Percutaneous recanalization for Budd-Chiari syndrome: an 11-year retrospective study on patency and survival in 177 Chinese patients from a single center

To evaluate the long-term outcomes of percutaneous recanalization and determine the predictors of patency and survival in a large case series of Chinese patients with Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS). This retrospective study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Informed consent for the procedure was obtained from all patients. Between July 1999 and August 2010, 177 consecutive Chinese patients with primary BCS were treated with percutaneous recanalization and followed up until death or their last clinical evaluation. Recanalization therapeutic strategy and complications were recorded. Cumulative patency and survival rates were assessed with Kaplan-Meier curves. Independent predictors of patency and survival were calculated with the Cox regression model. Percutaneous recanalization was technically successful in 168 of the 177 patients (95%). Fifty-one of the 168 patients (30%) were treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) alone and 117 (70%) were treated with a combination of PTA and stent placement. Procedure-related complications occurred in seven of the 168 patients (4%). The cumulative 1-, 5-, and 10-year primary patency rates were 95%, 77%, and 58%, respectively. Independent predictors of reocclusion included increased white blood cell count and use of PTA alone. The cumulative 1-, 5-, and 10-year secondary patency rates were 97%, 90%, and 86%, respectively. Twenty-two patients died during a median follow-up of 30 months (range, 0.25-137 months). The cumulative 1-, 5-, and 10-year survival rates were 96%, 83%, and 73%, respectively. Independent predictors of survival included variceal bleeding, increased alkaline phosphatase and blood urea nitrogen levels, and reocclusion. Percutaneous recanalization could achieve excellent long-term patency and survival in most Chinese patients with BCS. PTA combined with stent placement should be recommended to decrease the frequency of reocclusion and its associated mortality.