Splenomegaly due to portal hypertension

Hi all,

Since my last esophageal bleed, I have been struggling with anemia. My scans detected an inflammation in my spleen. I have been doing some research to see if it will return to its normal glory but unable to get an answers, my ALT and AST And scan show my my liver at normal size and the portal vain is normal. Has anyone here been through this?

[Oliviaamyprice]

Hi

It depends how your portal hypertension is and whether you take anything to reduce the pressure in the portal vein. Splenomegaly commonly occurs as a result of increased splenic vein pressure.

Also, following a bleed, anemia is improved with a blood transfusion, however not treated. Anemia is a frequent occurrence, seen in about 75% of patients with advanced liver disease. If you take iron tablets then make sure you keep an eye on your stool colour as it can look as if you’ve had a bleed but blackening often occurs from the iron tablets. They may offer an iron infusion instead.

I have splenomegaly, anemia and portal hypertension which has been on going for years. It all depends on the severity of the portal hypertension and spleen size. Did they tell you the size of your spleen at all? This way you can find out how much it has increased in size.

A spleen between 11 to 20 cm in its longest dimension is considered enlarged.

Hope that helps

Olivia

[Hidden in reply to Oliviaamyprice]

Thank you, that helps.

I just started taking medicationto reduce the tension of my blood, hopefully it will reduce back to normal after a while.

I am taking iron and other medications and, yes I have noticed some dark spots in my stool, but I was alerted about the possible side effects with that.

[Hidden in reply to Oliviaamyprice]

Hey Olivia . What size was or is your spleen. Are your platelets counts low?

[Angelsww]

18 months post transplant my spleen is still very enlarged. And i have pancytopenia..... see the haematologist reg but not a lot can be done