Budd-Chiari syndrome following pregnancy. Report of 16 cases, with roentgenologic, hemodynamic and histologic studies of the hepatic outflow tract.

Budd-Chiari syndrome following pregnancy is an extremely rare disease as reported in the literature. Reported here are 16 such cases in a total of 105 patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome seen at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, from 1963 to 1978. The clinical pointer to the diagnosis was sudden occurrence of abdominal pain and ascites following childbirth. Eleven patients had diuretic-resistant ascites. Percutaneous hepatography was valuable in detecting the site and the nature of the outflow block. The prognosis was uniformly bad, and eight patients died within one year from the onset of their illness. The various treatment schedules, including anticoagulant therapy, Rhodiascit ascitic fluid re-infusion and portasystemic shunt surgery, had no beneficial effect on the survival of these patients.