Budd-Chiari Syndrome in China: A Systematic Analysis of Epidemiological Features Based on the Chinese Literature Survey

Background. Thousands of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) studies have been published in China, and yet no one has explored its incidence or prevalence in the whole country. Methods. Three most commonly used Chinese language electronic databases were searched, and epidemiological data were extracted from the selected articles. Results. By the end of 2013, 20191 BCS cases were reported in China. The mean age of BCS patients was 36.29 ± 1.28 years, and ratio of male to female was 150/100. About 80% BCS patients were distributed in Henan, Shandong, Beijing, Jiangsu, and Anhui, and all of them except for Beijing were located in the downstream areas of Yellow River and the whole Huai River basin. The incidence and prevalence of BCS in China with and without the top 5 high-prevalence areas were estimated to be 0.88/million per year and 7.69/million and 0.28/million per year and 2.21/million, respectively. Conclusions. Most BCS patients in China are distributed in the downstream areas of Yellow River and the whole Huai River basin. The incidence and prevalence are comparable to those of Western countries without taking into account the top 5 high-prevalence areas.