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Home > Press Center > Press Releases from 2005 Annual Meeting > Rare liver disorder responds to minimally invasive endovascular procedures

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Jill Goodwin
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Minimally invasive endovascular procedures should be considered as the first choice for treatment of a rare and potentially fatal liver condition known as Budd-Chiari Syndrome, according to a clinical study presented today at the annual meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery in Chicago. Budd-Chiari Syndrome is caused by blockage along the hepatic vein outlet, which carries blood from the liver. Some affected people have a blood clotting disorder or other underlying medical condition. In others, the cause is unknown; these patients are described as having primary Budd-Chiari Syndrome.  Early treatment can relieve progressive liver damage that can lead to liver cancer.

This study reviewed cases of 28 patients with primary Budd-Chiari Syndrome who were treated at hospitals in Seoul, South Korea between 1995 and 2004. Nineteen of the 28 did not respond to medication. Endovascular treatment, which was performed in 17 of these 19 patients, resulted in immediate improvement in all cases. Four years after treatment, 16 out of 17 remained free of the liver congestion, or portal hypertension, that characterizes Budd-Chiari Syndrome.

One of the other two patients underwent conventional open surgery to bypass the obstructed vein. The other received a liver transplant, which remains the ultimate treatment for patients with advanced liver failure.

“Open surgery in Budd-Chiari Syndrome should be reserved for cases where endovascular procedures fail or cannot be performed,” said Dr. B.B. Lee of Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, and Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Md. “There has been a debate about when minimally invasive decompression procedures are appropriate. Based on these study results, it is clear that endovascular procedures can effectively stop the deterioration of liver tissue that occurs in Budd-Chiari Syndrome.”