Successful Treatment for Hepatic Encephalopathy Aggravated by Portal Vein Thrombosis with Balloon-Occluded Retrograde Transvenous Obliteration

Abstract

This report presents the case of a 78-year-old female with hepatic encephalopathy due to an inferior mesenteric venous-inferior vena cava shunt. She developed hepatocellular carcinoma affected by hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis and underwent posterior sectionectomy. Portal vein thrombosis developed and the portal trunk was narrowed after hepatectomy. Portal vein thrombosis resulted in high portal pressure and increased blood flow in an inferior mesenteric venous-inferior vena cava shunt, and hepatic encephalopathy with hyperammonemia was aggravated. The hepatic encephalopathy aggravated by portal vein thrombosis was successfully treated by balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration via a right transjugular venous approach without the development of other collateral vessels.

Keywords

• Hepatic encephalopathy
• Portal vein thrombosis
• Balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration