title: Coagulation imbalance may not contribute to the development of portal vein thrombosis in patients with cirrhosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relationship between the imbalance in pro- and anti-coagulant factors and portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in individuals with cirrhosis is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether the imbalance in pro- and anti-coagulant factors contributes to the development of PVT in cirrhotic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples were collected from 30 consecutive cirrhotic patients with PVT and 30 age-, sex-, and Child-Pugh score-matched cirrhotic patients without PVT (controls), and the plasma levels of coagulation factors II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII and of protein C (PC), protein S (PS) and antithrombin (AT) were analyzed. The ratios of pro- vs. anti-coagulant factors were further investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of pro- and anti-coagulant factors were not statistically different between the PVT and control groups. Similar results were obtained when the patients were divided according to Child-Pugh classification. No difference was observed for the ratios of pro- vs. anti-coagulant factors between the two groups but the ratios of factor II-to-PC and factor VII-to-PC which were significantly decreased in the PVT group. Most of the ratios did not reach statistical significance in each Child-Pugh category except the followings: factor VIII-to-PS, factor XII-to-PC and factor XII-to-PS in class A patients; factor II-to-PS, factor VII-to-PC and factor VII-to-PS in class B patients. But the difference might not be so convincing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PVT in cirrhotic patients may not result from coagulation imbalance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Disease and Digestive Interventional Radiology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xingshun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Chuangye
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Zhanxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Daiming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Guohong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000473:pathology*; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*