Obliterative Portal Venopathy of the Liver and "Idiopathic Portal Hypertension"

Excerpt

In 1962 a syndrome in 16 patients from northern India (New Delhi) with portal hypertension of insidious onset was described as distinct from both cirrhosis and extrahepatic obstruction of the portal vein (1). Subsequently, this disease was noted to be widespread in India and Japan and probably has been the cause throughout the world of some cases of portal hypertension of unknown cause (2).

The original report from India has been amplified by a study of liver abnormalities of 6 patients at autopsy and 18 from liver biopsy (3). The most characteristic lesion observed was a marked subendothelial thickening, patchy