Etiology and management of portal vein thrombosis：recent progress in research / 介入放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

With the progress of imaging techniques, the diagnosis rate for portal vein thrombosis (PVT), that is used to be considered as a rare disease, has been rapidly increasing. PVT can be caused by systemic reasons such as various thrombophilic risk factors as well as a lot of local reasons such as cirrhosis, abdominal trauma and infection, malignant tumor, etc. At present, PVT is classified into acute and chronic entities based on the duration of clinical symptoms as well as on the presence or absence of portal cavernous transformation. The clinical manifestations and the treatment principles of the acute and chronic PVT are quite different. For acute PVT, the principle of treatment is to reopen the obstructed portal vein and to prevent the thrombus from entering into the superior mesenteric vein, while for chronic PVT the principle of treatment is focused on the management of the complications due to portal hypertension. The interventional management of portal thrombus plays an important role in reopening portal vein, reducing complications caused by portal hypertension, and restoring portal blood flow, etc. This paper aims to make a comprehensive review about the etiology and management of portal vein thrombosis.