Utility of hepatic vein waveform and transient elastography in patients with Budd–Chiari syndrome who require angioplasty: Two case reports

RATIONALE: Budd–Chiari syndrome (BCS), which causes congestive hepatopathy and aggravates cirrhosis, is typically treated by interventional angioplasty to ameliorate blood flow. X-ray venography is useful for the evaluation of inferior vena cava (IVC) stenosis and determination of treatment timing, but it is invasive and thus unsuitable for repeated examinations. The development of a simple method for the prediction of IVC stenosis would reduce the burden on patients with BCS. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report here our experience of 2 patients with BCS who underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). The first patient was a 39-year-old male who underwent PTA to expand his stenotic IVC. The second patient was a 19-year-old male who underwent PTA 3 times due to restenosis of his IVC. DIAGNOSES: Both patients were diagnosed with BCS with severe obstruction of the IVC. INTERVENTIONS: We evaluated the hepatic vein (HV) waveform by Doppler ultrasonography and measured liver stiffness (LS) using transient elastography (TE) before and after PTA. OUTCOMES: In case 1, the phasic oscillation of the HV waveform recovered and the LS value decreased after PTA. Both improvements were maintained for ∼3 years, reflecting the long-term patency of the IVC. In case 2, the HV waveform and the LS value improved temporarily after PTA, but then deteriorated gradually. Monitoring of the HV waveform and LS value allowed retreatment prior to total occlusion of the IVC and abrogated the risk of intravascular needle puncture. LESSONS: Monitoring of the HV waveform and the LS value enables safe management of patients with BCS who may require PTA.