Portal vein thrombosis secondary to gastric cancer has been rarely reported. The main difficulty is represented by the correct differential diagnosis between benign and malignant thrombus and therefore by its treatment. In this report we describe a 62-year-old woman with Moschcowitz's disease who developed pylethrombosis and gastric cancer. Preoperative examination confirmed the relationship between the portal vein thrombosis and Moschcowitz's disease. She underwent an aggressive surgical procedure for the gastric cancer and conservative treatment of the thrombosis with subcutaneus administration of 8000 IU/day of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) at the time of diagnosis, interrupted eight hours before surgery and resumed eight hours after with 4000 IU/day. At discharge LMWH treatment was replaced with oral sodium warfarin home treatment to keep the international normalized ratio range between 2 and 3. Regression of the thrombosis with low molecular weight heparin was confirmed by computed tomography. The patient survived more than two years. We believe that patients with gastric cancer complicated by benign partial portal vein thrombosis could gain particular benefit from adjuvant anticoagulant treatment, so that the surgical approach can be limited to gastric cancer.

Tumori. 2004 Mar-Apr;90(2):259-61.

Pylethrombosis associated with gastric cancer in Moschcowitz's disease: successful management with anticoagulant. Report of a case.
Vannelli A, Fiore F, Del Conte C, Rivolta U, Corsi C.

Division of General Surgery, San Paolo Hospital, Milan, Italy. a.vannelli@tiscalinet.it