Vascular disorders of the liver

Abstract

Hepatic vascular disorders are a set of conditions that may be acute, or may be insidious and subclinical for many years. They can be organized into 3 categories: obstruction to hepatic vascular inflow, obstruction to blood flow through the liver, and obstruction to hepatic vascular outflow. In the first category are portal vein thrombosis, hepatic artery thrombosis, and presinusoidal causes of vascular obstruction. In the second category are sickle cell disease, disseminated intravascular coagulation, intrasinusoidal malignancy, and infection. In the third category are macroscopic hepatic venous thrombosis, thrombosis of the retrohepatic inferior vena cava, and venoocclusive disease. There are 2 nodular conditions of the liver that are not neoplastic but the result of occlusion of hepatic vasculature with compensatory hyperplasia of well-vascularized parenchyma. Hepatic vascular disorders constitute a heterogeneous group of conditions that must be considered in the differential diagnosis of any patient with hepatic compromise.