title: Portal hypertensive gastropathy with portal thrombosis successfully treated with partial splenic embolization.
abstract: A 60-year-old man with alcoholic liver cirrhosis was admitted to our hospital with severe anemia and tarry stool. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed grade 4 esophageal varices without bleeding and severe portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) of the fornix of the stomach with oozing. These findings suggested that PHG was the cause of progression of anemia. Abdominal computed tomography demonstrated no enhancement of the main portal vein and its first branches, indicating portal thrombosis and cavernous transformation. The patient underwent partial splenic embolization (PSE) to reduce portal hypertension. Two months after PSE was performed, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed improvement of PHG and endoscopic variceal ligation was performed to treat the esophageal varices. Contrast-enhanced CT revealed partial enhancement of the main portal vein indicating improvement of portal thrombosis. One year after PSE, hemoglobin had increased from 6.0 to 11.0 g/dl without blood transfusion. Moreover, albumin level had risen from 2.8 to 3.7 g/dl, cholinesterase from 51 to 150 IU/l, and prothrombin time from 47% to 66%. PSE can be an effective alternative for the management of severe PHG with portal vein thrombosis, and it might also be effective in improving liver function.
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan. miyaaki-hi@umin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hisamitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyaaki
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeshita
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Motohisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miuma
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Masumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.affiliation: The First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki, 852-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eguchi
keywords: Partial splenic embolization; Portal hypertensive gastropathy; Portal thrombosis