Journal of the Korean Geriatrics Society  2010;14(1):48-52

doi:10.4235/jkgs.2010.14.1.48

Hepatic Portal Venous Gas.

Sung Yeun YANG 1 ; Young Jin LEE ; Sang Youl PARK ; Tae Hee KIM ; Hyun Kuk KIM ; Soo Kyoung KWON ; Ji Hwa RHYU

Affiliations

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Keywords

Portal vein; Mesenteric vein; Gas; Pneumatosis intestinalis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG) is a rare disease presenting as acute abdomen. There were first described in children with necrotizing enterocolitis in 1955. HPVG is caused by mesenteric ischemia but may have various etiologies. Predisposing factors that develop mesenteric ischemia include gastric ulcer disease, bowel obstruction, diverticulitis and sepsis. The presence of the air in the portal and mesenteric vein on radiographics has been associated with a mortality rate of more than 75% in earlier studies. Abdominal computed tomography has proven useful for detecting portomesenteric venous gas and pneumatosis intestinalis. We report a case of the patient with hepatic portal venous gas with pneumatosis intestinalis, which showed rapid progress of the disease and eventually died within 24 hours of admission.