Systemic thrombolysis of portal vein thrombosis in cirrhotic patients: a pilot study.

Background: Portal vein thrombosis is a frequent complication in liver cirrhosis. Encouraging reports of systemic thrombolysis in non-cirrhotic patients suffering from acute portal vein thrombosis led us to start a pilot study on the efficacy and safety of systemic low dose recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (Actilyse, Boheringer Ingelheim, Florence, Italy).

Patients: Nine cirrhotic patients (6 males and 3 females) with recent portal vein thrombosis were enrolled.