Antiphospholipid Syndrome Presenting Variceal Bleeding in Patient with Systemic Anaerobic Bacterial Infection

The most common cause of portal hypertension is liver cirrhosis and other common causes are portal vein obstruction, idiopathies or it may associate with infection, pancreatitis or abdominal trauma. Also hematological malignancies and other hypercoagulable states are rarely related with portal vein thrombosis and portal hypertension. Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a clinical syndrome consists of the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and a status of hypercoagulability [1,2]. Intravascular thrombosis can arise in vessels of any size in any organ. APS may be divided into several categories. Primary APS occurs in patients without clinical evidence of another disease, whereas secondary APS occurs in association with autoimmune disease, infection, cancer and the use of drugs or hemodialysis [1]. We report a case of secondary APS related with systemic bacterial infection that complicated fundal variceal bleeding and ascites as a consequence of acute portal vein thrombosis.