Budd-Chiari syndrome

What it means

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is caused by obstruction of hepatic venous outflow at any level from the small hepatic veins to the junction of the inferior vena cava (IVC) with the right atrium, 1 and occurs in 1/100,000 of the general population worldwide. The most common presentation is with ascites, but can range from fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) to asymptomatic forms. Obstruction of hepatic venous outflow is mainly caused by primary intravascular thrombosis, which can occur suddenly or be repeated over time, accompanied by some revascularization, accounting for the variable parenchymal hepatic damage and histologic presentation. Budd-Chiari syndrome is thus a disease, but since it occurs as a manifestation of several other diseases, this term is kept for the present for convenience.

Rare diseases that can present with this4

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category