Thrombocytosis and thrombocythemia

Thrombocytosis is caused by three major pathophysiological mechanisms: (1) reactive or secondary thrombocytosis; (2) familial thrombocytosis; and (3) clonal thrombocytosis, including essential thrombocythemia and related myeloproliferative disorders. Recent work has begun to elucidate the abnormal megakaryocytopoiesis of essential thrombocythemia, which is associated with paradoxically elevated plasma levels of thrombopoietin. The clonal nature of all cases of essential thrombocythemia has been challenged. Thrombotic complications are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in this disease. Indications for platelet cytoreduction and antiplatelet therapy, as well as complications of treatment, are being clarified.

Noncirrhotic portal hypertension

Noncirrhotic portal hypertension represents a heterogeneous group of conditions that have distinct clinical and hemodynamic features that often help distinguish them from cirrhosis. [figure: see text] The sites of portal flow resistance may not be precisely localized to one area of the hepatic lobule and may extend beyond the site where the pathogenetic process began. Even in patients with portal hypertension caused by an increased flow, there may be subsequent development of increased resistance. The prognosis is variable; outcomes are better in patients with presinusoidal portal hypertension. A good understanding of the presentation of the various noncirrhotic conditions that cause portal hypertension will help determine the cause, the site of resistance, and the therapeutic plan. Ascites is not a feature of presinusoidal portal hypertension, whereas it may be the predominant feature in postsinusoidal portal hypertension.

Acute arterial spasm in an extremity caused by inadvertent intra-arterial injection successfully treated in the emergency department

We present a case of limb ischemia in a young man. For acute alcohol withdrawal, this patient was given chlordiazepoxide (Librium) through an angiocatheter inadvertently placed into a brachial arterial line. This caused severe spasm of the brachial artery and its branches. These findings were confirmed by angiography. Successful treatment occurred with intra-arterial papaverin.

Budd-Chiari syndrome: our experience of 71 patients

BACKGROUND

Hepatic venous outflow obstruction (Budd-Chiari syndrome) is frequently encountered as a cause of portal hypertension at our centre.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We studied the clinical presentation, therapeutic modalities and outcome of 71 patients with hepatic venous outflow obstruction between 1992 and 1997. Twenty-seven patients presented with acute disease, while 44 had chronic presentation. Abdominal pain, distension, jaundice and upper gastrointestinal bleeding were the commonest presenting symptoms. The majority of patients had distended veins, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, ascites and ankle oedema. The diagnosis was made on the basis of inferior vena cavography/functional hepatography and pulsed Doppler ultrasonography and/or liver biopsy in 39 patients and pulsed Doppler ultrasonography and/or liver biopsy in 32 patients. Pulsed Doppler ultrasonography accurately detected the site of the block in 31 of 39 patients (79.4%). The obstruction was in the hepatic vein in 20 patients, in the inferior vena cava in 10, and in both in 41 patients. Aetiologically, four had pregnancy-related disease, four tumour-related, three hypercoagulable states, 18 inferior vena cava membranes and 42 were idiopathic. Of 30 patients in whom liver biopsy was carried out, eight had centrizonal congestion and necrosis, 13 had mixed features and nine had established cirrhosis. Seven patients underwent a shunt operation and surgical membranotomy was carried out in one. Three patients (4.2%) died in the hospital.

CONCLUSIONS

Hepatic venous outflow obstruction is a common problem; patients present with abdominal pain, distension, jaundice, distended veins, ascites and ankle oedema. Chronic presentation is more frequent. Pulsed Doppler ultrasound, venography and liver biopsy are very helpful in diagnosis.

Flow cytometric analysis of autonomous growth of erythroid precursors in liquid culture detects occult polycythemia vera in the Budd-Chiari syndrome

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Hepatic vein thrombosis (Budd-Chiari syndrome) is associated with various hypercoagulable states, such as polycythemia vera (PV), presence of the lupus anticoagulant, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and deficiencies of antithrombin III, protein C and protein S. In recent years, it has become evident that patients with the Budd-Chiari syndrome may have more than one risk factor that may cause a state of hypercoagulability. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence of occult PV in patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome using a novel method for the detection of spontaneous erythroid growth.

METHODS

Twenty-two patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome were evaluated. As controls, we studied normal donors and four patients with liver cirrhosis and five patients with right-side heart failure, two conditions that in part mimic Budd-Chiari syndrome. The presence of PV was determined by flow cytometric analysis of autonomous growth of erythroid precursors. Patients were considered as having occult PV if they had spontaneous erythroid cell growth in the absence of erythropoietin and with no features of overt PV.

RESULTS

Cells from ten patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome demonstrated spontaneous erythroid cell growth; eight patients (32%) were found to have occult PV and two patients had overt PV. None of the controls had spontaneous erythroid growth. Of the eight Budd-Chiari patients with occult PV, six had one or more additional recognized hypercoagulable states. Seven patients (32%) had protein C deficiency, six patients (27%) had activated protein C resistance, five (23%) had anti-cardiolipin antibodies, five (23%) had antithrombin III deficiency, and four patients (18%) had protein S deficiency. Three patients (14%) were homozygous to methyltetra hydrofolate reductase and ten (45.5%) were heterozygous. One patient had PNH. Overall, in 12 patients there were two or more combined risk factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a flow cytometric analysis of autonomous growth of erythroid precursors we found a clear correlation between Budd-Chiari syndrome and occult PV.

Budd-Chiari Syndrome

Many options are available to diagnose and treat patients with the Budd-Chiari syndrome who present with either thrombotic or non-thrombotic occlusion of the major hepatic veins and or vena cava. The goal of therapy is to alleviate venous obstruction and to preserve hepatic function. Low-sodium diets, diuretics, and therapeutic paracentesis are generally ineffective, except for the rare patient who presents with volume overload and incomplete hepatic venous occlusion. Anticoagulants and thrombolytics may be appropriate for selected patients with acute thrombotic venous obstruction. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of hepatic venous stenoses or caval webs with or without placement of intraluminal stents yield excellent short-term results, but additional studies are warranted to assess long-term efficacy. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) may be effective for patients with subacute or chronic disease and ascites refractory to sodium restriction and diuretics. Intrahepatic stents may also serve as a bridge to transplantation for selected patients presenting with fulminant hepatic failure consequent to hepatic venous occlusion. Additional studies will be necessary to assess the role of TIPS in the armamentarium of therapies for patients with the Budd-Chiari syndrome. Decompressive shunts, reconstruction of the vena cava and hepatic venous ostia, transatrial membranotomy, and dorsocranial resection of the liver with hepatoatrial anastomosis are appropriate options for patients with acute or subacute disease who are not candidates for, or fail less invasive therapies. The majority of patients benefit with improvement in liver function tests, ascites, and liver histology; however, hepatic function may deteriorate in patients with marginal reserve. Liver transplantation is reserved for patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome who present with fulminant hepatic failure or end-stage liver disease with portal hypertensive complications. Transplantation is also appropriate for patients who deteriorate after failed attempts at surgical shunting.

Budd-Chiari syndrome complicating restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis: report of a case

PURPOSE

This is a case of hepatic vein thrombosis presenting in a delayed fashion after proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis. Search for a causative thrombotic condition resulted in the diagnosis of polycythemia vera, a myeloproliferative disorder associated with hypercoagulability. The polycythemia was masked by an iron deficiency associated with the ulcerative colitis.

METHODS

The history, physical, diagnostic modalities, and treatment for this patient are described, and the literature of Budd-Chiari syndrome associated with ulcerative colitis is reviewed.

RESULTS

Six cases of Budd-Chiari syndrome in the setting of ulcerative colitis are reported in the literature from 1945 to 1997.

CONCLUSIONS

Hepatic vein thrombosis is a rare complication of ulcerative colitis. The diagnosis of Budd-Chiari syndrome demands a thorough search for a hematologic condition predisposing to thrombosis. Our patient had a myeloproliferative disorder, polycythemia vera, that is associated with a hypercoagulable state. The disorder was masked by an iron deficiency associated with the ulcerative colitis. Recognition of the entity will permit successful treatment.

Outcome of Budd-Chiari syndrome: a multivariate analysis of factors related to survival including surgical portosystemic shunting

The aim of this study was to assess the factors, including surgical portosystemic shunts, which affect survival in adults with Budd-Chiari syndrome. Multivariate retrospective analysis was performed using characteristics recorded at the time of diagnosis in 120 patients admitted from 1970 to 1992, of whom 82 were treated with surgical portosystemic shunts and 38 received only medical therapy. The 1-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates were 77 +/- 4%, 64 +/- 5%, and 57 +/- 6%, respectively. Survival was significantly better in the subgroup of patients diagnosed after versus before 1985. In both subgroups, and in patients with, as well as in patients without surgical shunts, 4 factors were found to be inversely and independently related to survival: age, response of ascites to diuretics, Pugh score, and serum creatinine. In patients diagnosed since 1985, an index combining these 4 factors allowed to differentiate patients with a good outcome (5-year survival 95%) from those with a poor outcome (5-year survival 62%; P <.05). There was no statistically significant and independent influence of surgical portosystemic shunts on survival. In conclusion, age, severity of liver failure, and presence of refractory ascites are the main prognostic factors in Budd-Chiari syndrome. Increased survival in recent years is consistent with improved management of hypercoagulable states as well as improved general care. It is uncertain whether surgical portosystemic shunting favorably modifies survival. Therefore, we recommend that surgical shunting should be restricted to management of refractory ascites or variceal bleeding in patients with otherwise good prognostic factors.

Multilineage hemopoietic stem cell defects in Budd Chiari syndrome

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Erythropoietin-independent endogenous growth of erythroid colony from bone marrow cells has been shown in many patients with Budd Chiari syndrome in earlier studies. In another report, increased megakaryocyte colony growth has also been documented in this disease. However, defects in granulocyte-macrophage cell lines in Budd Chiari syndrome have yet to be reported in the literature.

METHODS

Both in vitro erythroid and granulocyte-macrophage colony cultures from peripheral blood mononuclear cells with and without erythropoietin or granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor, respectively, were studied in 32 patients with Budd Chiari syndrome, along with 20 normal healthy controls and ten patient controls with portal hypertension (five patients each with noncirrhotic portal fibrosis and liver cirrhosis). In 18 patients the occlusion was only in the inferior vena cava, in five patients only in hepatic veins, and in nine patients both inferior vena cava and hepatic veins were blocked.

RESULT

Endogenous erythroid or granulocyte-macrophage colony growth was not observed in any of the normal healthy controls or in patient controls with portal hypertension. However, 22 of the 32 (68.8%) patients showed endogenous erythroid colony growth. Moreover, four of them also showed endogenous growth of granulocyte-macrophage colony, not previously reported in Budd Chiari syndrome.

CONCLUSION

It may be inferred that stem cell defects affecting all three hemopoietic cell lines (erythroid, megakaryocyte and granulocyte-macrophage) occur in Budd Chiari syndrome, which may be the primary defect responsible for the pro-thrombotic state causing venous thrombosis in them.

Successful treatment by percutaneous balloon angioplasty of Budd-Chiari syndrome caused by membranous obstruction of inferior vena cava: 8-year follow-up study

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to report the long-term result (up to 8 years) of percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty (PTBA) for Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) caused by membranous obstruction of the inferior vena cava (MOVC).

BACKGROUND

We previously reported on this nonoperative form of therapy in a smaller series of patients and found the short-term results to be excellent.

METHODS

We studied the long-term results of PTBA in the treatment of BCS caused by MOVC in 42 patients who underwent PTBA with the Inoue balloon catheter between June 1988 and February 1996. There were 28 men and 14 women with a mean age of 35.6 years (range 16 to 56). MOVC was incomplete in 27 patients and complete in 15. PTBA was successful in 38 patients (91%). The longest follow-up period was 8 years.

RESULTS

All 38 patients who successfully underwent PTBA showed marked symptomatic improvement. Immediately after PTBA, the diameter of the inferior vena cava at the MOVC increased from 1.7 +/- 2 to 19.9 +/- 3.5 mm (p < 0.0001), the caval pressure below the MOVC decreased from 23.6 +/- 8.5 to 12.0 +/- 6.5 mm Hg (p < 0.0001), and the enlarged liver size decreased from 6.5 +/- 1.5 to 2.0 +/- 1.5 cm below the right costal margin at the midclavicular line (p < 0.0001). Over a follow-up period of up to 8 years (7 to 8 years in 4 patients, 5 to 7 years in 12, 3 to 5 years in 11, 2 to 3 years in 6 and < 2 years in 9), MOVC returned in only 1 patient. This patient, our first, required a second PTBA 3 years later and a third 4.25 years after the second PTBA, in combination with stent placement for recurrence of stenosis.

CONCLUSIONS

PTBA with the Inoue balloon catheter is an effective, safe and long-lasting alternative to surgical treatment of patients with BCS due to MOVC.

Severe acute hand ischemia following an accidental intraarterial drug injection, successfully treated with thrombolysis and intraarterial Iloprost infusion. Case report

A young woman with acute upper extremity edema and ischemia after intraarterial drug injection is presented. Unsatisfactory results from standard treatment were the reason for changing the therapy to temporary thrombolysis, which led to significant improvement. Some days later severe impairment forced another attempt at applying standard therapy, again unsuccessful. Only after continuous intraarterial infusion of Iloprost, a new improvement occurred and saving of the hand was possible. It became obvious that more effective therapeutic measures ought to be applied when severe hand ischemia following intraarterial drug injection is present.