Abstract
Portal vein thrombosis is a rare complication in ulcerative colitis. We present a patient with portal vein thrombosis in ulcerative colitis who was successfully treated with colectomy. A 38-year-old Japanese female was admitted to our hospital because of an exacerbation of colitis. Abdominal ultrasonography performed because of liver dysfunction showed the thrombus in an umbilical portion of the portal vein. The patient underwent a subtotal colectomy and ileostomy because her colitis did not respond to intensive intravenous therapy. Although portal vein thrombus was treated with an intravenous infusion of urokinase before the operation, no change in the thrombus size was found. Approximately three months after the colectomy, the thrombus of the portal vein disappeared without anticoagulant therapy. Although a resection of an inflamed colon may be theoretically effective in the thrombosis in the inflammatory bowel disease, its benefit has not been confirmed. Our case suggests that the resection of the diseased bowel may have a favorable effect on the course of portal vein thrombosis in acute attacks of ulcerative colitis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Graef V, Gaggenstoss AH, Sauro WG, et al. Venous thrombosis occurring in nonspecific ulcerative colitis. A necropsy study. Arch Intern Med 1966;117:377–82.
Talbot RW, Heppell J, Dozois RR, Beart RW, Jr. Vascular complications of inflammatory bowel disease. Mayo Clin Proc 1986;61:140–5.
Parker RGF, Kendall EJ. The liver in ulcerative colitis. BMJ 1954;2:1030–3.
Aronson AR, Steinheber FU. Portal vein thrombosis in ulcerative colitis. N Y State J Med 1971;71:2310–1.
Capron J-P, Remond A, Lebrec D, et al. Gastrointestinal bleeding due to chronic portal vein thrombosis in ulcerative colitis. Dig Dis Sci 1979;24:232–5.
Reh TE, Srivisal S, Schmidt EH III. Portal venous thrombosis in ulcerative colitis: CT diagnosis with angiographic correlation. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1980;4:545–7.
Miyazaki Y, Shinomura Y, Kitamura S, et al. Portal vein thrombus associated with acute ulcerative colitis: percutaneous transhepatic recanalization. Am J Gastroenterol 1995;90:1533–4.
Koenigs KP, McPhedran P, Spiro HM. Thrombosis in inflammatory bowel disease. J Clin Gastroenterol 1987;9:627–31.
Lee JC, Spittell JA Jr, Sauer WG, Owen CA Jr, Thompson JH Jr. Hypercoagulability associated with chronic ulcerative colitis: changes in blood coagulation factors. Gastroenterology 1968;54:76–85.
Lam A, Borda IT, Inwood MJ, Thompson S. Coagulation studies in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Gastroenterology 1975;68:245–51.
Cohen J, Edelman RR, Chopra S. Portal vein thrombosis. Am J Med 1992;92:173–82.
Tsujikawa T, Ihara T, Sasaki M, Inoue H, Fujiyama Y, Bamba T. Effectiveness of combined anticoagulant therapy for extending portal vein thrombosis in Crohn's disease: report of a case. Dis Colon Rectum 1996;39:823–5.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Hagimoto, T., Seo, M., Okada, M. et al. Portal vein thrombosis successfully treated with a colectomy in active ulcerative colitis. Dis Colon Rectum 44, 587–590 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02234334
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02234334