MESENTERIC VENOUS THROMBOSIS DUE TO COAGULATION DEFICIENCIES

Mesenteric venous thrombosis is a rather rare condition posing diagnos tic problems and very often with an obscure etiology. Recently, variou s coagulation deficiencies were found as the main etiologic factor. A case of a 75-year-old man with acute abdomen is presented. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a 250 cm necrosis of the small intestine. Patient was successfully treated by resecting the entire involved segment of the bowel. After a complete coagulation profile examination, deficienc ies of protein C and anti-thrombin III were found and were considered as the main cause of the disease. In cases with known coagulation defi ciencies the presence of an acute abdomen should raise suspicion of me senteric venous thrombosis.