Frequency of Thrombophilic Gene Polymorphisms in Cirrhotic Patients with Splanchnic Vein Thrombosis in Comparison with Cirrhotic Patients without Thrombosis

Visceral thrombosis especially hepatic vein thrombosis deteriorates the disease in cirrhotic patients. Thrombophilic genotypes are seen in most cirrhotic patients with portal vein thrombosis. The aim of this study is the comparison of thrombophilic genes frequency in cirrhotic patients with splanchnic veins thrombosis versus cirrhotic patients without thrombosis.

In a case – control study, we studied 100 patients with hepatic cirrhosis in Tabriz Imam Reza hospital after achieving inclusion criteria in the form of two groups (with and without visceral veins thrombosis). The frequency of genetic polymorphism of thrombophilia in two groups of cirrhotic patients was assessed.

The mean age of the patients was 48.1±18.1 years which were in the range of 15 to 85 years. 51 (51%) of patients were male and 49 (49%) were female. Thrombosis was present in portal vein in 24% of patients, in superior mesenteric vein in 7% of patients, in splenic vein in 14% and in 5% of patients in potal and splenic veins. There was no significant difference between two groups in G20210A, C677T, A1298C and PAI-I genes polymorphism (P=0.82, P=0.70, P=0.78 respectively).

With regard to the non-significant difference in frequency of thrombophilic gene polymorphism in two groups, we cannot assume prophylactic actions in cirrhotic patients for visceral vein thrombosis but we recommend more multicentric studies with more number of cases for clarifying the topic.