Antiphospholipid antibodies are related to portal vein thrombosis in patients with liver cirrhosis

The pathogenesis of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in cirrhotic liver patient s is not known. PVT has been related to liver dysfunction, neoplasm, hemody namic factors, and hypercoagulability states. PVT has been reported in pati ents with antiphospholipid syndrome without liver cirrhosis. Our aim was to find the role of antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs) and coagulation inhibi tors in PVT in patients with liver cirrhosis. We present a case-controlled study, matched by age, liver function, and etiology, to discover the role o f APAs and anticoagulant protein activity in PVT in cirrhotic patients. We studied 30 cirrhotic patients: 6 of 10 (60%) patients with PVT were APA-pos itive, whereas only 2 of 20 (10%) in the cirrhotic control group were APA-p ositive (p < 0.005). Low serum levels of protein C, protein S antithrombin III, and plasminogen were found in cirrhotic patients; and, no differences were found between patients with and without PVT. Significantly lower prote in S and antithrombin III levels were found in patients with Child-Pugh cla ss C, Therefore, APAs were related to PVT in cirrhotic patients; but, a low er concentration of coagulation inhibitors was associated with liver dysfun ction alone.