Abernethy's Malformation – A Rare Congenital Defect Involving the IVC: A Case Report

Abstract

Abernethy’s malformation is a rare congenital defect that is often undetected. This is a case study of a 33-year-old woman who came into the emergency department following a motor vehicle accident. The patient’s main complaints were pain, nausea, and vomiting. Due to an extensive medical history with the hospital, along with many inherited disorders, diagnosis confirmation and management proved to be difficult. Computed tomography (CT) and sonography had been performed in the past; however, due to the emergent situation of the motor vehicle accident, CT users performed a contrast study, revealing a congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt bypassing the liver. This shunt is known as the Abernethy malformation. It presents with a wide variety of clinical findings, such as encephalopathy, liver lesions, and thromboembolism of aneurysms. However, all typical findings of this malformation were not present in our patient due to the rarity of the patient’s congenital bleeding disorders, thus masking Abernethy’s and preventing complications that would otherwise have allowed the malformation to be detected earlier.