An 80-year-old woman with hilar cholangiocarcinoma was hospitalized due to sudden-onset abdominal pain. Computed tomography revealed hepatic necrosis accompanied with emphysematous change in the superior segment of the right liver (S7/S8), implying spontaneous rupture, based on the presence of perihepatic free air. Although urgent percutaneous drainage was performed, neither pus nor fluids were drained. These findings suggest emphysematous hepatitis with a hepatic mass. Despite the application of intensive care, the patient's condition deteriorated rapidly, and she died 3 days after admission to hospital. Liver gas has been reported in some clinical diseases (e.g., liver abscess) to be caused by gas-forming organisms; however, emphysematous hepatitis simulating emphysematous pyelonephritis is very rare. The case reported here was of fatal emphysematous hepatitis in a patient with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
Aged, 80 and over ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Bile Duct Neoplasms/complications/diagnosis ; Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic/pathology ; Cefotaxime/therapeutic use ; *Cholangiocarcinoma/complications/diagnosis ; Clostridium Infections/drug therapy/microbiology ; Clostridium perfringens/isolation & purification ; Emphysema/complications/*diagnosis ; Escherichia coli/isolation & purification ; Escherichia coli Infections/drug therapy/microbiology ; Female ; Hepatitis/complications/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Metronidazole/therapeutic use ; *Pneumoperitoneum/complications/diagnosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed