1. Doppler ultrasound of Budd-Chiari syndrome
Samir Haffar M.D.
Assistant Professor of gastroenterology
2. Causes of portal hypertension
Pre-sinusoidal Congenital hepatic fibrosis
Sarcoidosis
Schistosomiasis
Lymphoma
Hyperdynamic Arterio-portal fistula or malformation
Robinson KA et al. Ultrasound Quarterly 2009 ; 25 : 3 – 13.
Intra-hepatic
Post-sinusoidal Cirrhosis
Causes Disease
Extra-hepatic Portal vein thrombosis or compression
most common cause
Supra-hepatic Budd-Chiari syndrome
Right heart insufficiency
3. Budd-Chiari syndrome
Narayanan Menon KV et al. N Engl J Med 2004 ; 350 : 578 – 85.
Occlusion of a single hepatic vein usually clinically silent
Two or three hepatic veins can be occluded without clear symptoms
4. Doppler US in BCS
Obstruction &/or collaterals of HV or IVC*
* DeLeve L et al. AASLD practice guidelines. Hepatology 2009 ; 49 : 1729 – 1764.
Obstructed HV Presence of solid endoluminal material
Hyperechoic cord replacing normal vein
Reversed flow in large hepatic vein
Dilatation of vein upstream to obstacle
HV collaterals Sipder web in vicinity of HV ostia
Subcapsular or HV to intercostal or HV veins
Caudate lobe hypertrophy with dilated veins
IVC Web – Thrombosis – Inversion of flow
5. BCS / Solid endoluminal material in HV
Solid endoluminal material in middle & left hepatic veins
Narrowing at distal end of middle hepatic vein as it joins IVC
Chaubal N et al. J Ultrasound Med 2006 ; 25 : 373 – 379.
Transverse subcostal image
6. BCS / Hyperechoic cord
Hepatic veins transformed to fibrotic cords
“Hepatic vein star”
Boozari B et al. J Hepatol 2008 ; 49 : 572 – 580.
7. BCS / Reversed flow in large HV
Inverted flow in right hepatic vein
Normal flow in middle hepatic vein
Right intercostal view
Bargalló X et al. Am J Roentgenol 2006 ; 187 : W33 – W42.
8. BCS / Reversed flow in HV upstream to obstacle
Solid endo-luminal material in distal part of MHV
Reverse flow in proximal part of MHV
9. BCS / Sipder web in vicinity of HV ostia
Vilgrain V. Eur Radiol 2001 ; 11 : 1563 – 1577.
Segev D L. Liver Transpl 2007 ; 13 : 1285 – 1294.
Gray-scale US
Small interwoven veins near IVC
Hepatic venogram
Typical “spider web” pattern
10. BCS / Large subcapsular vein
Large tortuous subcapsular vein draining into IVC
Bargalló X et al. Am J Roentgenol 2006 ; 187 : W33 – W42.
11. BCS / HV draining into another HV
Occluded RHV draining through collateral vessel into MHV
Flow away & toward transducer in same vessel
“Bicolored hepatic vein”
Bargalló X et al. Am J Roentgenol 2006 ; 187 : W33 – W42.
12. BCS / Collateral from HV to caudate lobe vein
Brancatelli G et al. Am J Roentgenol 2007 ; 188 : W168 – W176.
Transverse Doppler US at level of caudate lobe
Lack of flow in distal portion of MHV
Collateral from MHV to caudate lobe vein
14. BCS / Caudate lobe hypertrophy
Erden A. Eur J Radiol 2007 ; 61 : 44 – 56.
Sagittal gray-scale US
Enlarged caudate lobe
Antero-posterior diameter: 7.6 cm
15. BCS / Dilated caudate lobe vein
75% of cases
Bargalló X et al. Am J Roentgenol 2003 ; 181 : 1641 – 1645.
Mildly dilated caudate vein
7 mm
Largely dilated caudate vein
21 mm
Caudate vein (≥ 3 mm) suggests diagnosis
Except for cardiac failure
16. BCS / Membranous obstruction of IVC
Kandpal H et al. RadioGraphics 2008 ; 28 : 669 – 689.
30-year-old woman, abdominal pain & distention of 3 y duration
Ostial HV narrowing
Multiple IH collaterals
Tapered IVC occlusion
at cavo-atrial junction
Reversed flow in IVC
Loss of cardiac pulsations
17. Budd-Chiari syndrome & liver hydatid disease
Retrospective study of 13 patients with HDL & BCS
Yilmaz C et al. Radiol Oncol 2009 ; 43 : 225 – 232.
Heterogeneous mass representing degenerated & collapsed membranes
Large subcapsular vein draining into suprahepatic IVC
18. BCS / IVC thrombosis
Behçet disease – Secondary BCS
Sagittal image of IVC distended with echogenic thrombus
Secondary BCS due to renal cell carcinoma
Rumack CM, Wilson SR, & Charboneau JW. Diagnostic Ultrasound.
Elsevier-Mosby, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, 3rd edition, 2005.
19. BCS / Thrombosis of PV
15% of patients – Poor prognosis
Bargalló X et al. Am J Roentgenol 2006 ; 187 : W33 – W42.
Thrombosis of portal vein
Hepatofugal flow in right portal vein
Dilated hepatic artery
20. BCS / Benign regenerative nodules
Multiple (> 10) – Small ( < 4 cm) – Hypervascular
Vilgrain V et al. Radiology 1999 ; 210 : 443 – 450.
Bargalló X et al. Am J Roentgenol 2006 ; 187 : W33 – W42.
Two iso- & hyperechoic nodules
surrounded by thin hypoechoic halo
Low resistance arterial waveform
with high velocity
21. Proposed diagnostic strategy for BCS
Valla DC. Gut 2008 ; 57 : 1469 – 1478.
DeLeve L et al. AASLD practice guidelines. Hepatology 2009 ; 49 : 1729 – 1764.
22. Doppler US in SOS
Non specific
• Main PV Decreased, to-and-fro, or reversed flow
• Hepatic artery Significant elevation of RI (> 0.80)
• Hepatic veins Normal direction – Monophasic flow
• IVC Patent with flow toward heart
McGahan J et al. Diagnostic ultrasound, Informa Healthcare, 2nd edition, 2008.
* Lassau N et al. Radiology 1997 ; 204 : 545 – 552.
• US findings Thickened GB wall – Ascites
23. Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS)
BMT for acute myelogenous leukemia
Desser TS et al. Am J Roentgenol 2003 ; 180 : 1583 – 1591.
Contrast-enhanced CT
Heterogeneous hepatic enhancement
Color & duplex US of HV
Monophasic flow in MHV
Imaging currently not diagnostic by itself
Consider only direct visualization of obstruction, and/or collaterals, of a hepatic vein or inferior vena cava, as definite evidence for the diagnosis.
Term “spiderweb” was initially used in description of angiographic findings in Budd-Chiari syndrome, and it means presence of very small interwoven veins.Interwoven: منسوجة
Hypertrophied subcapsular veins may shunt blood from liver to systemic veins (azygos vein, intercostal veins) or directly to inferior vena cava creating new intrahepatic and extrahepatic circulation.
“Bicolored” hepatic vein
HCC appears to be a significant long-term complication (11 of 97 patients followed-up for a mean of 5 years).αFP more specific for dg than with other liver diseases. Risk of HCC in long-standing IVC obstruction 70-fold higher than those with pure hepatic vein involvement.
HVOD frequently develops before day 20 of bone marrow transplantation.clinically suspected when there is jaundice, painful hepatomegaly, and fluid retention. Intensive myeloablativechemotherapy or radiation therapy before transplantation is presumed to be the cause.Clinical criteria for diagnosis: Seattle Criteria & Baltimore Criteria (weight gain – ascites – hepatomegaly - hyperbilirubinemia). The diagnosis may be supported by imaging, which will demonstrate the presence of hepatomegaly and ascites and rule out biliary obstruction due to benign or malignant causes, but imaging is currently not diagnostic by itself. The best-studied modality is gray-scale and color Doppler ultrasonography. The majority of studies suggest that no single ultrasound parameter is diagnostic for SOS.Findings that are highly suggestive of SOS are reversal of portal venous flow, attenuation of hepatic venous flow, gallbladder wall edema, and perhaps increased resistive indices to hepatic artery flow. A composite score of gray-scale and color Doppler ultrasound criteria has been proposed, but may be too cumbersome for routineclinical use. One study has suggested that the presence of flow in the para-umbilical vein is more common in moderate and severe SOS, but this will need to be validated by other investigators.
