Hepatic portal venous gas in a patient with enterovascular fistula

Portal gas in a diabetic patient under pharmacotherapy with an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor: report of a case with emphasis on US findings

Portal gas is relatively rare, and its relation to ischemic bowel diseases has been emphasized. We report the case of a 56-year-old diabetic man under pharmacotherapy with an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor in which portal gas was incidentally detected by ultrasound (US). It showed multiple echo spots moving in the portal vein. Doppler signals confirmed them to be bidirectional and spiky, which immediately led to the diagnosis of portal gas. A change in oral antidiabetic drug caused the portal gas to disappear. We stress the usefulness of US and Doppler US for detecting and diagnosing portal gas. Although detailed analysis of a larger series of diabetic patients under this therapy is needed to draw a definitive conclusion, our observation merits attention. We also briefly review the literature.

Hepatic portal venous gas: Physiopathology, etiology, prognosis and treatment

Hepatic portal venous gas (HPVG), an ominous radiologic sign, is associated in some cases with a severe underlying abdominal disease requiring urgent operative intervention. HPVG has been reported with increasing frequency in medical literature and usually accompanies severe or lethal conditions. The diagnosis of HPVG is usually made by plain abdominal radiography, sonography, color Doppler flow imaging or computed tomography (CT) scan. Currently, the increased use of CT scan and ultrasound in the inpatient setting allows early and highly sensitive detection of such severe illnesses and also the recognition of an increasing number of benign and non-life threatening causes of HPVG. HPVG is not by itself a surgical indication and the treatment depends mainly on the underlying disease. The prognosis is related to the pathology itself and is not influenced by the presence of HPVG. Based on a review of the literature, we discuss in this paper the pathophysiology, risk factors, radiographic findings, management, and prognosis of pathologies associated with HPVG.

Flaming portal vein as a new color Doppler sign of portal gas: report of two cases

Portal gas is relatively rare, and the majority of reported cases have shown it to have a close relation to bowel diseases. At present, portal exploration usually begins with color Doppler sonography, and clinicians now possess a good understanding of color Doppler findings of a wide spectrum of portal abnormalities. However, the color Doppler sign we present in this article has not been reported before. We report two cases of ischemic bowel disease in which B-mode ultrasound showed multiple hyperechoic spots moving in the portal vein; the color Doppler appearance was as if the portal vein was on fire (flaming portal vein sign). Knowledge of this simple color Doppler sign helps to improve the diagnostic strategies in patients with portal gas.

Portal vein gas in emergency surgery

Background

Portal vein gas is an ominous radiological sign, which indicates a serious gastrointestinal problem in the majority of patients. Many causes have been identified and the most important was bowel ischemia and mesenteric vascular accident. The presentation of patients is varied and the diagnosis of the underlying problem depends mainly on the radiological findings and clinical signs. The aim of this article is to show the clinical importance of portal vein gas and its management in emergency surgery.

Methods

A computerised search was made of the Medline for publications discussing portal vein gas through March 2008. Sixty articles were identified and selected for this review because of their relevance. These articles cover a period from 1975–2008.

Results

Two hundreds and seventy-five patients with gas in the portal venous system were reported. The commonest cause for portal vein gas was bowel ischemia and mesenteric vascular pathology (61.44%). This was followed by inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (16.26%), obstruction and dilatation (9.03%), sepsis (6.6%), iatrogenic injury and trauma (3.01%) and cancer (1.8%). Idiopathic portal vein gas was also reported (1.8%).

Conclusion

Portal vein gas is a diagnostic sign, which indicates a serious intra-abdominal pathology requiring emergency surgery in the majority of patients. Portal vein gas due to simple and benign cause can be treated conservatively. Correlation between clinical and diagnostic findings is important to set the management plan.

Portal gas in a patient with acute obstructive cholangitis: report of a case with emphasis on US findings

Portal gas is relatively rare, and its relationship to ischemic bowel diseases has been emphasized. We report the case of a 70-year-old woman with acute obstructive cholangitis in whom portal gas was detected by ultrasonography (US) but not by computed tomography (CT). The former showed multiple echo spots moving in the portal vein. Doppler signals confirmed them to be bidirectional and spiky, which immediately led to the diagnosis of portal gas. Immediate appropriate antibiotic treatment and biliary drainage yielded the disappearance of the portal gas. We stress the usefulness of US and Doppler US for detecting and diagnosing portal gas. Our observation suggests that when portal gas is detected by US, the possibility of cholangitis should be included in the differential diagnosis.