Familial Budd-Chiari syndrome due to membranous obstruction of the right hepatic vein treated with transluminal angioplasty.

We report on a 30-yr-old man with Budd-Chiari syndrome due to right hepatic vein membranous obstruction. The patient's older brother also suffered from Budd-Chiari syndrome, and died after emergent portocaval shunt operation. To the best of our knowledge, familial occurrence of this syndrome has not been described before. The patient reported herein was successfully treated with transluminal angioplasty, and 12 months after the procedure, there are no signs of portal hypertension. Transluminal angioplasty has been used rarely for dilatation of isolated hepatic vein obstruction. This procedure should be considered as the treatment of choice for Budd-Chiari syndrome due to hepatic vein membranous obstruction.