[Chronic eosinophilic leukemia with symptoms resembling Budd-Chiari syndrome due to liver infiltration]

A 68-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with severe ascites, hepatomegaly and hypereosinophilia. We initially suspected Budd-Chiari Syndrome (BCS), but that was ruled out after confirming the presence of no obstruction in the major veins. A molecular biologic examination proved the clonality of the eosinophils and she was therefore diagnosed as having chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL). The pathologic findings of a liver biopsy showed dilation of the sinusoids with infiltration of eosinophils, portal eosinophilic infiltrations with fibrosis, and biliary damage. These findings thus suggested infiltration of the liver by the CEL. A relationship between myeloproliferative disorders and BCS has been commonly reported, however there have so far been very few reports which describe the pathology of CEL liver infiltrates. As a result, the present case in which CEL occurred while demonstrating symptoms and findings similar to BCS is therefore considered to be extremely rare. Further accumulation of such cases should therefore be carried out in the future.