[Acute Budd-Chiari syndrome of traumatic origin]

Abstract

The diagnosis of Budd-Chiari syndrome is based on clinical signs including liver enlargement and ascitis and findings of complementary examinations: echography, echo-Doppler, CT-scan, magnetic resonance imaging, angiography, pressure readings, laparoscopy and biopsy. Trauma is rarely reported as a cause of acute Budd-Chiari syndrome. In some cases, the trauma is so violent the supra-hepatic veins are ruptured and the dramatic outcome leaves no time for the syndrome to develop. In others, the resulting haematomas form a compression block of the suprahepatic vessels. The mechanism of the trauma in our case appears to have been unreported to date. Four days after a violent motorcycle accident, a 33-year-old man developed an acute Budd-Chiari syndrome probably due to partial and temporary thrombosis of the left and middle suprahepatic veins. A side-to-side porto-cava anastomosis with a calibrated venous graft was performed in an emergency procedure. Outcome was quite favourable and after a 4 year follow-up, the patient is in good health.