Portal vein thrombosis associated with prolonged ingestion of oral contraceptive steroids.

The case is described of a 38 year old woman who developed severe right upper quadrant abdominal pain that was associated with partial portal vein occlusion, as confirmed by flow Doppler ultrasonography and dynamic contrast computed tomography. The patient was a cigarette smoker and had taken combined oestrogen/progestagen oral contraceptive steroids (OCS) continuously for 24 years. There were no other risk factors for portal vein thrombosis or for thromboembolic disease. Following anticoagulant therapy and discontinuation of OCS complete recovery occurred. The case is reported to draw attention to portal vein thrombosis as an extremely rare complication of OCS.