Congenital Portal Hypertension (without cirrhosis) and resistance training.

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hey docs,

Obviously a very specific title. I’ve been doing linear progression for a few months now, but before I really got into I had a trip to the ER with some VGE and ended up with a CT w/ contrast reading of portal hypertension without cirrhosis (also some splenomegaly and varicose veins. I’ve seen a GI specialist who told me this was more than likely congenital, especially after all the labs he ordered came back normal (LFT among them) yay genetics. I did ask him very specifically about weightlifting and he didn’t seem too concerned about the fact. I presume the GI doc is correct but would like some reading material on the subject. I’ve found studies relating Portal Hyper Tension WITH Cirrhosis AND resistance training as leading an increase to bleeding, and now that’s all I can think about of course. I understand any response is not legitimate medical advice as you do not know me as a patient or have read my case yourselves but I would still appreciate your input.

2

Hi there,

This is interesting - unfortunately we barely have enough evidence looking at the (far) more common scenario of portal hypertension with cirrhosis, with only a few papers on the topic. I’m not aware of any direct evidence or reading material on this matter, unfortunately, since the cirrhosis context is markedly different from yours for a number of reasons. I think it’s reasonable to assume that if you don’t have cirrhosis you’re likely to be at a lower risk of bleeding, but I’m still curious as to the specific cause of your portal hypertension.

3

I think I just rolled the “genetic” lottery, I guess it goes with the saying that if you look for a problem long enough you’ll find one. He did however not want to confirm with a invasive method and just said I should do a LFT regularly.