Testosterone Replacement Therapy Causing Extensive Portal and Mesenteric Vein Thrombosis

A 62-year-old man presented to our emergency department reporting a 1 week history of diffuse abdominal pain. His initial vital signs were unremarkable. His past medical history was significant for panhypopituitarism secondary to a remote head trauma. His home medications included intramuscular testosterone cypionate 120 mg weekly. His initial laboratory values were only remarkable for polycythemia (hemoglobin of 177 g/L) (Table 1). A contrast-enhanced abdominal computerized tomography showed extensive venous thrombosis of the portal vein, the superior mesenteric vein and most of the splenic vein, causing mesenteric ischemia (Figure 1).

Source: The American Journal of Medicine - January 11, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: Laurence Poirier-Blanchette, Maral Koolian, Blair Carl Schwartz Tags: Clinical Communication to the Editor Source Type: research