Relation between lupus anticoagulant and splanchnic venous thrombosis in cirrhosis of the liver
BMJ 1994; 309 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.309.6949.239 (Published 23 July 1994) Cite this as: BMJ 1994;309:239
- F Violi,
- D Ferro,
- S Basili,
- A D'Angelo,
- G Mazzola,
- C Quintarelli,
- C Cordova
- Istituto di I Clinica Medica, Policlinico Umberto I, Rome 00185
- Italy Istituto di Terapia Medica, Universita La Sapienza, Rome
- Italy Servizio di Coagulazione IRCSS, H S Raffaele, Milan, Italy
- Correspondence to: Dr Violi
- Accepted 10 March 1994
While angiographic studies have indicated that splanchnic venous thrombosis rarely occurs in patients with cirrhosis of the liver, a postmortem study has shown that it may occur in up to a fifth.1 We have shown that patients with cirrhosis have lupus anti-coagulant, which predisposes to venous and arterial thrombosis.2 In this study we determined whether splanchnic venous thrombosis is associated with lupus anticoagulant in patients with cirrhosis.
Patients, methods, and results
From October 1990 to November 1991, 73 consecutive patients (43 men) aged 35-77 with cirrhosis of the liver that had been diagnosed by liver biopsy entered the study. Liver failure was categorised as mild, moderate, or severe according to Child-Pugh's classification.
Twenty nine patients had markers of hepatitis B virus infection, 30 had markers of hepatitis C virus infection, 11 had a history of alcohol misuse, and in three the cause of cirrhosis was …