Long Term Survival of Patients Undergoing TIPS in Budd-Chiari Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: There has been significant improvement in understanding the etiology and management of Budd-Chiari Syndrome (BCS). Patients with chronic or acute-on-chronic BCS need radiological interventions in the form of angioplasty, hepatic vein/inferior vena cava stenting or Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS). Data regarding the long term follow up of patients undergoing TIPS is limited. We thus prospectively followed-up BCS patients who underwent TIPS at our center. METHODS: This study included 42 patients with BCS who underwent TIPS with a covered stent between 2004 and 2014. We analyzed the etiology, symptoms, severity, laboratory parameters and imaging pre and post TIPS. All patients underwent surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma. RESULTS: Patients demographics included 26 males and 16 females with a mean age of 40.5 years (19-68 years). The mean Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score of the entire cohort was 15.38 (range: 9-25). Thirty-four patients were grouped into Rotterdam Class 2 and remaining into Class 3. There was significant improvement in ascites, gastrointestinal bleed, renal function and transaminase levels post TIPS. There were 11 deaths over the follow-up period - 4 within one month, 2 within six months and the rest after 3 years following TIPS. Median duration from clinical presentation to TIPS was 2.1 weeks and median survival till follow-up was 45.5 months (0-130 months). 33/42 patients underwent TIPS prior to 2013, and their median survival till follow-up was 55 months. Six out of eleven deaths that occurred within six months post-TIPS were before 2006; when the technique of TIPS creation was evolving. The cumulative 1 year, 5 years and 10 years OLT-free survival was 86%, 81% and 76%, respectively. Two patients underwent a liver transplant at 4 and 7 years after TIPS. CONCLUSION: Our results validate the role of TIPS in the management of patients with BCS. With the accessibility of TIPS, the requirement for liver transplantation has become rare.

Successful embolization of an ovarian artery pseudoaneurysm complicating obstetric hysterectomy.

Transcatheter arterial embolization is becoming the therapy of choice for controlling obstetric hemorrhage, affording the ability to control persistent bleeding from pelvic vessels while avoiding the morbidity of surgical exploration. The clinicians are left with little choice if pelvic hemorrhage continues after hysterectomy and ligation of anterior division of both internal iliac arteries. We present one such case of intractable post-obstetric hysterectomy hemorrhage in which an ovarian artery pseudoaneurysm was diagnosed angiographically and successfully embolized, highlighting the role of transcatheter embolization.

Fatal aortic rupture complicating stent plasty in a case of aortoarteritis.

Endovascular stenting has emerged as an effective alternative for unsuccessful angioplasty of the aorta in aortoarteritis. This is a single case report of fatal aortic rupture following balloon angioplasty of post-patch aortoplasty restenosis in aortoarteritis. We report a fatal aortic rupture during angioplasty of the primarily stented stenotic segment of the aorta in a case of aortoarteritis.