Endemicity and clinical picture of liver disease due to obstruction of the hepatic portion of the inferior vena cava in Nepal

Obstructive lesion of the hepatic portion of the inferior vena cava is common in Nepal. The clinical data on 150 patients who were seen at the Liver Unit, Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, in three years from 1990 to 1992 were analysed. Although the majority of patients were over 20 years of age, 25 patients were below 10 years of age; there were more males than females in this study. This disease accounted for 17% of 866 patients with chronic liver disease and for nearly one quarter of 267 biopsies performed on this patient group during the same period. Obstructive lesions of the inferior vena cava seem to be more common among poor people with malnutrition. Clinically, our patient group could be divided into acute (n= 27), subacute (n= 43) and chronic (n= 80) cases. The important clinical features are hepatomegaly and/or ascites and, in chronic cases, prominent dilated superficial veins over the body trunk with cephalad flow. Ultrasound is the most helpful diagnostic procedure, especially in subacute and chronic cases, as it frequently demonstrates caval obstruction, thrombosis, dilated hepatic veins and intrahepatic collaterals. Diagnosis is confirmed by cavography, which shows a caval obstruction of varying lengths at the cavo‐atrial junction or a marked narrowing of the hepatic portion of the vena cava. In subacute and chronic cases cavography also demonstrates collateral veins, such as the ascending lumbar, hemiazygos and azygos that drain into the superior vena cava. Chronic cases had periods of exacerbation often associated with bacterial infection. The aetiology of inferior vena cava obstruction at its hepatic portion is not known, but there seems to be a frequent association of bacterial infection with the disease.