The influence of the typing of portal vein tumor thrombosis on the esophageal-gastro variceal degree and rupturing hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The present study was performed to establish a scientific method for the typing of portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) by investigating the degrees of esophageal-gastro varices, the incidences of rupturing hemorrhage and the prognoses of different types of patients with PVTT.

METHODOLOGY: We collected 76 patients with HCC and PVTT in the People's Hospital of Liaocheng from March 2005 to July 2010 and divided them into two types by whether the PVTT exceeded the entry of vena coronaria ventriculi to the portal vein. All the patients were long-term followed-up until their deaths, and underwent upper-endoscopy and imaging inspection.

RESULTS: There was no significance for the comparison between the degrees of esophageal-gastro varices from the two types of PVTT Patients with type I PVTT had much higher incidences of rupturing hemorrhage than patients with type II. The principal cause of death of patients with type I was upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage while the principal cause of death of patients with type 11 was multiple organ failure including hepatic failure.

CONCLUSIONS: PVTT has developed quickly and its effect on the degrees of esophageal-gastro varices was insignificant in short-term.The prognoses of the patients with different types of PVTT were different. Our typing of PVTT could presume the prognoses of patients more conveniently and supply the theoretical evidence on the choices of treatments for various patients with PVTT.