Priadko K, Romano M, Vitale LM, Niosi M, De Sio I. Asymptomatic portal vein aneurysm: Three case reports. World J Hepatol 2021; 13(4): 515-521 [PMID: 33959231 DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i4.515]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kateryna Priadko, MD, Academic Research, Department of Precision Medicine and Hepato-Gastroenterology Unit, University Hospital and Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Pansini, 5, Naples 80138, Italy. kateryna.priadko@unicampania.it
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Hepatol. Apr 27, 2021; 13(4): 515-521 Published online Apr 27, 2021. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i4.515
Asymptomatic portal vein aneurysm: Three case reports
Kateryna Priadko, Marco Romano, Luigi Maria Vitale, Marco Niosi, Ilario De Sio
Kateryna Priadko, Marco Romano, Luigi Maria Vitale, Marco Niosi, Ilario De Sio, Department of Precision Medicine and Hepato-Gastroenterology Unit, University Hospital and Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples 80138, Italy
Author contributions: De Sio I, Vitale LM and Niosi M performed the ultrasonography and interpreted the imaging findings; Priadko K reviewed the literature and drafted the manuscript; De Sio I contributed to manuscript drafting; Romano M was responsible for the revision and final approval of the manuscript; all authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patients for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kateryna Priadko, MD, Academic Research, Department of Precision Medicine and Hepato-Gastroenterology Unit, University Hospital and Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Pansini, 5, Naples 80138, Italy. kateryna.priadko@unicampania.it
Received: December 14, 2020 Peer-review started: December 14, 2020 First decision: February 13, 2021 Revised: February 19, 2021 Accepted: March 24, 2021 Article in press: March 24, 2021 Published online: April 27, 2021 Processing time: 119 Days and 21.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Portal vein aneurysm (PVA) is an uncommon vascular dilatation, showing no clear trend in sex or age predominance. Due to the low number of published cases and the lack of management guidelines, treatment of this condition remains a clinical challenge.
CASE SUMMARY
We present three cases of asymptomatic PVA; the first and second involve an extrahepatic manifestation, of 48 mm and 42.3 mm diameter respectively, and the third involves an intrahepatic PVA of 27 mm. All were diagnosed incidentally during routine check-up, upon ultrasonography scan. Since all patients were asymptomatic, a conservative treatment strategy was chosen. Follow-up imaging demonstrated no progression in the aneurysm dimension for any case.
CONCLUSION
As PVA remains asymptomatic in many cases, recognition of its imaging features is key to favourable outcomes.
Core Tip: Portal vein aneurysm (PVA) can be a congenital or acquired vascular malformation but in most cases is asymptomatic; as such, it remains underdiagnosed. We report on the features of PVA detected by ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in three asymptomatic patients. Only one of our patients had a known predisposing factor (i.e., liver cirrhosis). Throughout the surveillance period, our patients remained asymptomatic, with no dimensional changes in their PVAs. In reporting this case study, we highlight the need for PVA recognition and instituting a personalized management approach that takes into consideration factors predisposing to complications of this condition.
