Three-fold Increased Risk of Death in Budd-Chiari Syndrome Compared to Matched Controls: A Population-based Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) have an elevated risk of overall and liver-specific mortality, but this has not been quantified on a population level nor compared against a matched general population cohort. METHODS: We identified all patients in Sweden with a recorded diagnosis of BCS in the Swedish National Patient Register between 1987 and 2016. Patients with BCS were matched for age, sex, and municipality at baseline with up to 10 reference individuals from the general population. Data on cause-specific mortality were obtained from the Causes of Death Register. A Cox regression model was performed to investigate rates of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. RESULTS: A total of 478 patients with BCS were matched with 4603 reference individuals. Of the patients with BCS, 43% were men, the median age was 58 years, 39% had a recorded diagnosis of a precipitating risk factor, and 13% had underlying liver disease. During a follow-up of up to 29 years, 243 (51%) of the patients with BCS died compared with 1346 (29%) of the reference individuals. Overall mortality was 70 per 1000 person-years in patients with BCS compared with 28 per 1000 person-years in reference individuals, translating into an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 3.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-3.6). Although liver-related mortality was particularly high (aHR, 47.6; 95% CI, 16.5-137.4), liver disease accounted for only 10% of deaths in BCS. The most common cause of death was cardiovascular disease (aHR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.7-2.9). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BCS in Sweden had a 3-fold higher risk of death compared with general population reference individuals. Although mortality from liver diseases was high in relative terms, most patients died from cardiovascular causes.

Endovascular treatment of symptomatic Budd-Chiari syndrome - in favour of early transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt.

INTRODUCTION: Treatment of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) has shifted from mainly medical treatment, with surgical shunt and orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) as rescue, to medical treatment combined with an early endovascular intervention in the past two decades. PURPOSE: To assess the safety and efficiency of endovascular treatment of symptomatic patients with BCS and to compare mortality with symptomatic BCS patients in the same region treated with only sporadic endovascular techniques. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of clinical data, treatment and survival in 14 patients diagnosed with BCS and treated with endovascular methods from 2003 to 2015. A national epidemiology study of BCS from 1986 to 2003 was used for comparison. RESULTS: Thirteen of the 14 patients eventually had transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), four after previous liver vein angioplasty. TIPS were performed with polytetrafluoroethylene-covered stents and technical success was 100%. Calculated preinterventional prognostic indices indicated a high risk of TIPS dysfunction, OLT and death. However, only one patient died and one had an OLT, and the 1- and 2-year primary TIPS-patency was 85 and 67%, respectively. Episodes of de-novo hepatic encephalopathy occurred in three patients. Overall 1- and 5-year transplantation-free survival was 100 and 93% compared with 47 and 28%, respectively, in 1986 to 2003. CONCLUSION: TIPS seems to be a safe and effective treatment for symptomatic BCS and there is an obvious improvement in transplantation-free survival compared with conservatory medical treatment. It should, therefore, be considered early, as first-line intervention, in patients with insufficient response to medical treatment.

[Bleeding and thrombosis ­ acute complications of liver cirrhosis]. / Blödning och trombos - akuta komplikationer vid levercirros.

Patients with acute and chronic liver disease have a rebalanced hemostasis, i.e. these patients have an increased tendency for both bleeding and thrombosis.Bleeding is primarily related to portal hypertension, rather than a defective hemostasis. There are well-established clinical guidelines for the management of patients with liver cirrhosis and variceal bleeding.Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an increased risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with liver cirrhosis. The treatment of patients with liver cirrhosis and venous thrombosis is not well documented. Treatment with anticoagulants should be considered in patients with symptomatic, extensive or progressive thrombosis of the portal system, as well as in patients who are being considered for liver transplantation.

Increased thrombin generation in splanchnic vein thrombosis is related to the presence of liver cirrhosis and not to the thrombotic event.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years there have been increasing evidence associating liver disease with hypercoagulability, rather than bleeding. The aim of the study was to evaluate the haemostatic potential in patients with liver disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We measured thrombin generation in the presence and absence of thrombomodulin in patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT, n=47), Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS, n=15) and cirrhosis (n=24) and compared the results to those obtained from healthy controls (n=21). Fifteen patients with PVT and 10 patients with BCS were treated with warfarin and were compared to an equal number of patients with atrial fibrillation matched for prothrombin time-international normalized ratio. We assessed resistance to thrombomodulin by using ratios [marker measured in the presence/absence of thrombomodulin]. RESULTS: There were no differences in thrombin generation between patients on warfarin treatment and their controls. Cirrhotic patients generated more thrombin in the presence of thrombomodulin and exhibited thrombomodulin resistance compared to controls [p=0.006 for endogenous thrombin potential (ETP) and p<0.001 for peak thrombin and both ratios ETP and peak] and patients with non-cirrhotic PVT (p=0.001, p=0.006, p<0.001, p<0.001 for ETP, peak, ratio ETP, ratio peak, respectively). The patients with cirrhotic PVT exhibited higher ETP (p=0.044) and peak (p=0.02) in the presence of thrombomodulin than controls, as well as thrombomodulin resistance (ETP and peak ratios: p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Hypercoagulability and thrombomodulin resistance in patients with cirrhosis were independent of the presence of splanchnic vein thrombosis. The hypercoagulability in patients with cirrhotic PVT could have implications for considering longer or more intensive treatment with anticoagulants in this group.

The international normalized ratio according to Owren in liver disease: interlaboratory assessment and determination of international sensitivity index.

INTRODUCTION: The international normalized ratio (INR) is used to prioritize liver disease patients for transplantation. Previous studies have shown high interlaboratory variability in Quick-based INR determinations in samples of patients with liver disease. We assessed Owren-based INR reagents for analyzing INR in patients with liver disease. Further, we determined the difference between international sensitivity index (ISI) for patients on vitamin K antagonists (ISIVKA) and ISI for patients with liver disease (ISIliver). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with liver disease were included, 10 with INR 1.8-3.6 (group A1) and 10 with INR 1.2-1.5 (group C1). Plasma from these patients was analyzed for Owren-based INR in eight Swedish laboratories using either of following reagents: SPA+, Owrens PT or Nycotest PT. To determine ISI liver, the reference thromboplastin RBT/05 and additional 41 patients with liver disease and 20 normal controls were included. ISIVKA was determined according to the WHO procedure. The difference between the ISIVKA and ISIliver was calculated. RESULTS: The coefficients of variance for the Owren based INR methods were 6.2% in group A1, 3.9 % in group C1 and 5.3% for all patients. The difference between ISIVKA and ISIliver were -0.4%, -0.7% and -0.2% for SPA+, Owrens PT and Nycotest PT respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Interlaboratory variation in INR analyses according to Owren in patients with liver disease is low and the difference between ISIVKA and ISIliver is below 10% with this method. ISIVKA can therefore be used in the INR calibration, for the Owren reagents studied, when analyzing plasma from patients with liver disease.

A method to assess the distribution and frequency of plasma cells and plasma cell precursors in autoimmune hepatitis.

Chronic inflammation exhibiting interface hepatitis and plasma cells in hematoxylin-eosin (H&E)-stained sections is typical of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), a non-resolving inflammatory liver disease of unidentified cause. Some biopsies may only reveal lymphocytes and occasional granulocytes but no plasma cells. Recent studies on liver biopsies showed that the antibody against multiple myeloma oncogene-1 (MUM1) stained plasma cells (PC), and plasma cell precursors (PCP). Here, liver biopsies from 86 patients were stained with H&E, as well as for MUM1. The portal triad with the highest degree of chronic inflammation (hot-spot PTCI) was chosen for assessing both the topographic distribution and the frequency of MUM1-positive cells. In the 12 untreated AIH cases, MUM1-positive cells were found organized in an irregular ring-like fashion at the peripheral domain of the PTCI, but in none of the three medically-treated AIH cases. Only one out of the remaining 71 liver biopsies exhibited a similar ring-like arrangement, but the PTCI outline was sharp and the number of MUM1-positive cells was low. The highest mean number of MUM1-positive cells at the peripheral domain of the PTCI (59.2 cells) was found in AIH cases (AIH vs. other liver ailments, p<0.05). The highest mean number of MUM1-labelled cells in the core of the PTCI (83.3 cells) was found in PBC cases (PBC vs. other liver ailments p<0.05). Anti-MUM1 permits assessment of qualitative and quantitative PC/PCP changes evolving in autoimmune liver diseases. It is suggested that MUM1 may be of help in the histological differential diagnosis between autoimmune liver diseases and other liver ailments.

Budd-Chiari syndrome in Sweden: epidemiology, clinical characteristics and survival - an 18-year experience.

BACKGROUND: The exact incidence and prevalence of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is unknown in the general population. Published reports differ in terms of the clinical characteristics, effects of therapy and survival. AIMS: To investigate the epidemiology, clinical presentation and survival in patients with BCS. METHODS: Retrospective multicentre study in Sweden reviewing the medical records of all patients with BCS 1986-2003, identified from the computerised diagnosis database of 11 hospitals, including all university hospitals and liver transplantation centres. RESULTS: Forty-three patients with BCS were identified, of whom nine (21%) had concomitant portal vein thrombosis. The mean age-standardised incidence and prevalence rates in 1990-2001 were calculated to be 0.8 per million per year and 1.4 per million inhabitants respectively. Myeloproliferative disorders (38%), thrombophilic factors (31%) and oral contraceptives (30%) were common aetiological factors. Two or more risk factors were present in 44%. In 23%, no risk factor was evident. The median follow-up time was 2.7 years. Seventy-two percent were on anticoagulant therapy during follow-up. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunting, surgical shunting procedures and liver transplantation were performed in 4, 6 and 18 patients respectively. Nineteen patients died. The overall transplantation-free survival at 1, 5 and 10 years was 47, 28 and 17% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Budd-Chiari syndrome is a rare disorder; the mean age-standardised incidence and prevalence rates in Sweden in 1990-2001 were calculated to be 0.8 per million per year and 1.4 per million inhabitants respectively. The presence of a myeloproliferative disorder was a common aetiological factor in our cohort and about half of the patients had a multifactorial aetiology. The transplantation-free survival was poor.