THROMBOSIS OF THE PORTAL-VEIN AFTER BLUNT TRAUMA

Blunt trauma to the abdomen is an exceptional cause of portal vein thr ombosis. To our knowledge, 8 cases have been reported in the literatur e. When thrombosis of the portal vein occurs, a complete search for al l the known main causes must be carried out before entertaining this d iagnosis. Other causes may be cirrhosis, tumors and inflammation of th e abdomen, coagulation disorders and hematologic diseases including la tent myeloproliferative syndrome. We report a case in a 25-year-old ma n with an uneventful past history who presented with thrombosis of the portal vein after a violent blunt trauma which occurred during a rugb y play. In this young man, none of the other potential causes was foun d, in particular bone marrow culture on medium with low growth-factor concentration allowed us to eliminate a latent myeloproliferative synd rome. The only triggering factor remaining was the recent abdominal tr auma. After an 18-month follow-up, no other element has been observed which could have caused thrombosis of the portal vein.