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    Prevention
    What causes Budd-Chiari syndrome?
    Blood contains a large number of elements, which maintain the delicate balance between being able to stop bleeding from a wound on the one hand and clotting too quickly or unnecessarily on the other. The obstruction in the veins in Budd-Chiari is usually due to an imbalance in this system, where the blood clots too readily. Clots in blood vessels are called thromboses and the condition where there is a problem with blood clots is called thrombotic disease.

    There may be a genetic cause or evidence from other tests as to why the blood is clotting too readily. The body may be producing too many red blood cells or latelets. It may not be producing enough of the substances that regulate blood clotting, or these may not be working properly. Finding a cause may be useful in identifying the right approach to treatment. However, in some people there is no obvious explanation for the problem.

    A number of other conditions or factors are linked with BCS, including:
    • tumours, most commonly the liver cancer hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
    • chronic inflammatory diseases, such as Behçet disease, Sjögren syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
    • pregnancy
    • high dose oestrogen from using oral contraception.

    It is possible that having an abscess, cyst or tumour can place direct pressure on your veins and increase the likelihood of a clot developing. This means that many existing disorders can be complicated by BCS.

    Web-like structures, called ‘membranous webs’, are found in the major hepatic veins or inferior vena cava far more commonly in South-east Asia and the Middle East than in the UK. It is now thought that these represent the last remains of thromboses that have, for the most part, been cleared by the body’s repair systems. These can also be a cause of BCS.