HEPATOVENOCAVAL SYNDROME - A RARE CAUSE OF ASCITES IN THE YOUNG POPULATION
Main Article Content
Abstract
Hepatovenocaval syndrome involves obliteration of intra-hepatic portion of inferior vena cava. It is a separate entity from Budd-Chiari syndrome with which it is usually confused; however Budd-Chiari Syndrome involves obliteration of hepatic venous outflow. This case describes a young male patient who presented with a longstanding history of abdominal pain and ascites. His viral screen was negative for Hepatitis B and C. Ascitic fluid routine examination was transudative and ultrasound scan of the abdomen picked up features of chronic liver disease. He had received anti-tuberculous treatment on a presumption of suffering from abdominal tuberculosis. However there had been no improvement despite 12 months of therapy. He was thoroughly re-evaluated and a series of advanced investigations were carried out. A computerized tomographic scan of the abdomen revealed solid lesions in the liver suggesting malignancy. Subsequent biopsy was however reported as negative for malignancy. Screening for autoimmune liver disorders and Wilson disease was also negative. Thrombophilic profile returned normal. It is only after the multiphasic magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen that occlusion of intra-hepatic portion of inferior vena cava was spotted and a diagnosis of hepatovenocaval syndrome was thus made. The patient remained on antibiotics and diuretics, and reported improvement in condition during hospitalization. Physicians and hepatologists are not much familiar with hepatovenocaval syndrome as a separate entity than Budd-Chiari Syndrome. However it is of utmost importance to make a correct diagnosis because management of both conditions differs markedly.
Key Words:
Hepatovenocaval syndrome; Budd-Chiari Syndrome; Ascites; Liver
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All articles published in the Journal of Medical Sciences (JMS) are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). Under the CC BY 4.0 license, author(s) retain the ownership of the copyright publishing rights without restrictions for their content, and allow others to copy, use, print, share, modify, and distribute the content of the article even for commercial purposes as long as the original authors and the journal are properly cited. No permission is required from the author/s or the publishers for this purpose. Appropriate attribution can be provided by simply citing the original article. The corresponding author has the right to grant on behalf of all authors, a worldwide license to JMS and its licensees in all forms, formats, and media (whether known now or created in the future), The corresponding author must certify and warrant the authorship and proprietorship and should declare that he/she has not granted or assigned any of the article’s rights to any other person or body.
The corresponding author must compensate the journal for any costs, expenses, or damages that the JMS may incur as a result of any breach of these warranties including any intentional or unintentional errors, omissions, copyright issues, or plagiarism. The editorial office must be notified upon submission if an article contains materials like text, pictures, tables, or graphs from other copyrighted sources. The JMS reserves the right to remove any images, figures, tables, or other content, from any article, whether before or after publication, if concerns are raised about copyright, license, or permissions and the authors are unable to provide documentation confirming that appropriate permissions were obtained for publication of the content in question.