Trombosis portal

Trombosis venosa portal extrahepática, manejo quirúrgico con derivación meso-Rex. Serie de 3 casos

La vena porta es un conducto que drena el flujo esplácnico al hígado y se puede ocluir por diferentes patologías, variando su presentación clínica de acuerdo con la causa de la obstrucción. Es muy importante diferenciar la trombosis portal asociada o no a la cirrosis, ya que su tratamiento y pronóstico es diferente. La trombosis venosa portal extrahepática es una condición netamente de origen vascular, y es la principal causa de trombosis portal en niños y adultos. Presentamos tres casos tratados con derivación meso-Rex, con seguimiento a 6 meses.

Congenital antithrombin deficiency in patients with splanchnic vein thrombosis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Splanchnic vein thromboses (SVT) are a rare condition that can be life-threatening. The most severe thrombophilia associated to SVT is antithrombin (AT) deficiency, usually caused by SERPINC1 mutations. Although transitory AT deficiencies and congenital disorders of the N-glycosylation pathways (CDG) have been recently reported as causes of AT deficiency, the current AT clinical screening still only includes anti-FXa activity. This study aims to (a) improve the detection of AT deficiency in SVT and (b) characterize the features of AT deficiency associated with SVT.

METHODS

The study was performed in 2 cohorts: (a) 89 SVT patients with different underlying etiologies but in whom AT deficiency had been ruled out by classical diagnostic methods; and (b) 271 unrelated patients with confirmed AT deficiency and venous thrombosis. AT was evaluated by functional (anti-FXa and anti-FIIa) and immunological methods (ELISA, crossed immunoelectrophoresis, western blot), and SERPINC1 sequencing was performed.

RESULTS

In 4/89 patients (4.5%) additional alterations in AT were found (two had SERPINC1 mutations, one had a specific variant causing transient AT deficiency and one patient had CDG). In 11 of the 271 patients (4.1%) with AT deficiency and thrombosis, thrombosis was located at the splanchnic venous territory.

CONCLUSIONS

Antithrombin deficiency may be underdiagnosed by current clinical screening techniques. Therefore, a comprehensive AT evaluation should be considered in cases of rethrombosis or doubtful interpretation of anti-FXa activity levels. SVT is a relatively common localization of the thrombotic event in patients with congenital AT deficiency.

Precision medicine in variceal bleeding: Are we there yet?

Variceal bleeding is one of the most feared complications of portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis because of its deleterious impact on prognosis. Adequate management of patients at risk of developing variceal bleeding includes the prevention of the first episode of variceal bleeding and rebleeding, and is crucial in modifying prognosis. The presence of clinically significant portal hypertension is the main factor determining the risk of development of varices and other liver-related decompensations; therefore, it should be carefully screened for and monitored. Treating patients with clinically significant portal hypertension based on their individual risk of portal hypertension-related bleeding undoubtedly improves prognosis. The evaluation of liver haemodynamics and liver function can stratify patients according to their risk of bleeding and are no question useful tools to guide therapy in an individualised manner. That said, recent data support the idea that tailoring therapy to patient characteristics may effectively impact on prognosis and increase survival in all clinical scenarios. This review will focus on evaluating the available evidence supporting the use of individual risk characteristics for clinical decision-making and their impact on clinical outcome and survival. In primary prophylaxis, identification and treatment of patients with clinically significant portal hypertension improves decompensation-free survival. In the setting of acute variceal bleeding, the risk of failure and rebleeding can be easily predicted, allowing for early escalation of treatment (i.e. pre-emptive transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt) which can improve survival in appropriate candidates. Stratifying the risk of recurrent variceal bleeding based on liver function and haemodynamic response to non-selective beta-blockers allows for tailored treatment, thereby increasing survival and avoiding adverse events.

CT Features of Hepatic Veno-occlusive Disease: A Meta-analysis

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE

The computed tomography (CT) features of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HVOD) could play a role in its diagnosis. We aimed to perform a meta-analysis of studies examining the CT features of HVOD.

METHODS

Relevant studies published up to May 3, 2017 were searched in major electronic databases. The extracted data included the proportion of various CT features in patients with HVOD. The meta-analysis was conducted using R 3.3.3 with the "meta" package.

RESULTS

Eleven studies were included. The studies involved 326 patients with a mean age range of 50.2-58.9 years, and the proportion of female patients ranged from 20% to 57.5%. The meta-analysis showed the pooled proportion of CT features: hepatic parenchyma with heterogeneous hypoattenuation (81.05%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 56.97%-93.25%), patchy enhancement in the portal venous phase (87.09%, 95% CI: 75.15%-93.77%) with or without a narrow or invisible hepatic vein (71.02% 95% CI: 42.09%-89.20%), gallbladder wall edema (65.51%, 95% CI: 28.98%-89.84%), and patchy heterogeneous enhancement in the arterial phase (44.36%, 95% CI: 29.98%-59.76%) with or without slightly enlarged hepatic artery (56.61%, 95% CI: 40.62%-71.33%).

CONCLUSION

Hepatic parenchyma with heterogeneous hypoattenuation and patchy enhancement with or without narrowing or an invisible hepatic vein in the portal venous or equilibrium phase may be the most important CT feature for diagnosing HVOD.

Hypercoagulability in patients with chronic noncirrhotic portal vein thrombosis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Although they have normal liver histology and function, patients with chronic noncirrhotic nontumoral portal vein thrombosis (NC-PVT) frequently have abnormal results from coagulation tests. We investigated the significance of these results.

METHODS

We analyzed blood samples collected from 50 stable patients with NC-PVT secondary to a thrombophilic disorder (32%) or local factor (32%), or that was idiopathic (36%). We measured endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) with and without thrombomodulin, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, coagulation factors (I, II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII), antithrombin, proteins C and S, von Willebrand factor (vWF) antigen, vWF ristocetin cofactor, a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motifs 13 antigen, D-dimer, plasmin-antiplasmin complex, prothrombin fragment F1+2, activated factor VII, and clot lysis time. Samples from 50 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were evaluated as controls.

RESULTS

Compared with controls, patients with NC-PVT had significant increases in prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time; they had significant reductions in levels of procoagulant factors II, V, VII, IX, X, XI, and XII, and the anticoagulants antithrombin, protein C, and protein S. The patients had increased levels of factor VIII and vWF antigen. Irrespective of etiology, patients with NC-PVT had a significant increase in ETP with thrombomodulin and higher levels of factor VIIa, prothrombin fragment F1+2, D-dimer, and plasmin-antiplasmin complex than controls, indicating in vivo activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with NC-PVT have hypercoagulability that is independent of the underlying etiology, based on in vitro analyses of thrombin-generation capacity and increased levels of biomarkers in blood samples. Further studies are required to determine if activation of hemostasis increases the risk for thrombotic events.

[Cholangiopathy associated with portal hypertension]

Portal cholangiopathy encompasses a group of abnormalities of the biliary system and gallbladder that occur secondary to chronic portal vein thrombosis and collateral venous circulation. Chronic obstruction of the portal vein is a frequent cause of gastrointestinal variceal bleeding, but data on biliary tract abnormalities are limited. We report the case of a male patient with obstructive jaundice secondary to portal cholangiopathy. We describe the pathogenesis of this entity, and the various diagnostic and therapeutic options available.