Mesenteric venous thrombosis caused by deficiency of physiologic anti-coagulants: report of a case.

Mesenteric venous thrombosis is a clinical entity, which is rarely recognized on admission. The patients are admitted with vague abdominal complaints and, eventually, abdominal sepsis might occur requiring laparotomy. Nowadays, underlying hypercoagulable states such as antithrombin-III, protein-C and protein-S deficiencies are recognized more frequently as a distinct cause of mesenteric venous thrombosis. In this paper, a case of mesenteric venous thrombosis due to protein-C deficiency is presented. The patients generally have a history of thromboembolism of the deep veins of the legs at young age. The combination of vague abdominal complaints and a history of thrombosis of the deep veins of the legs should arouse the suspicion of mesenteric venous thrombosis. In these cases, contrast-enhanced computerized tomography is a non-invasive diagnostic means which may provide the diagnosis. If infarction of the gut is present, resection is mandatory and a second-look operation should be performed. After surgery, heparinization is essential. This must be followed by administration of oral anticoagulants for an indefinite period in case of an underlying antithrombin III, protein-C or protein-S deficiency.