Mesenteric venous thrombosis due to coagulation deficiencies

Mesenteric venous thrombosis is a rather rare condition posing diagnostic problems and very often with an obscure etiology. Recently, various coagulation deficiencies were found as the main etiologic factor. A case of a 75-year-old man with acute abdomen is presented. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a 250 cm necrosis of the small intestine. Patient was successfully treated by resecting the entire involved segment of the bowel. After a complete coagulation profile examination, deficiencies of protein C and anti-thrombin III were found and were considered as the main cause of the disease. In cases with known coagulation deficiencies the presence of an acute abdomen should raise suspicion of mesenteric venous thrombosis.