Secondary Budd-Chiari syndrome associated with severe alcoholic hepatitis: A case report

Abstract

Alcoholic hepatitis is an acute inflammation of the liver secondary to the consumption of alcohol in hepatotoxic amounts; various associated factors influence its pathophysiology. The diagnosis has three scenarios: probable, possible, and definite alcoholic hepatitis. Probable alcoholic hepatitis is based on compliance with clinical and laboratory diagnostic criteria; possible alcoholic hepatitis corresponds to cases that meet these criteria but with potentially confounding factors in the diagnosis, and the definite one is based on histopathology. Budd-Chiari syndrome is a rare, heterogeneous, potentially lethal entity characterized by thrombi in the suprahepatic veins and the inferior vena cava. The final diagnosis relies on imaging tests. Moreover, secondary Budd-Chiari syndrome is an even rarer entity, little studied, whose diagnosis is difficult due to its remarkable similarity to primary Budd-Chiari syndrome, both clinically and in diagnostic images, for which more complex and even invasive diagnostic methods must be used. Then, we describe an unusual case of a male patient with chronic alcohol consumption presenting with secondary Budd-Chiari syndrome associated with severe alcoholic hepatitis confirmed by liver biopsy and subjected to multiple imaging studies that ruled out thrombosis in the suprahepatic veins.