‘Benign’ hepatic portal venous gas

Andrew F Little

¹ Department of Medical Imaging, St Vincent's Hospital and ² Department of Medical Imaging, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

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1 Samantha J Ellis,

Samantha J Ellis

¹ Department of Medical Imaging, St Vincent's Hospital and ² Department of Medical Imaging, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

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Andrew F Little,

Andrew F Little

¹ Department of Medical Imaging, St Vincent's Hospital and ² Department of Medical Imaging, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

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1 Samantha J Ellis,

Samantha J Ellis

¹ Department of Medical Imaging, St Vincent's Hospital and ² Department of Medical Imaging, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

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First published: 11 August 2003

https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1673.2003.01184.x

Citations: 7

Associate Professor Andrew F Little, Department of Medical Imaging, St Vincent's Hospital, 41 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia. Email: [email protected]

AF Little MB BS, MS, MMed, FRANZCR, FRCR; SJ Ellis MB BS, FRANZCR.

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Summary

The presence of portal venous gas within the hepatic parenchyma is usually associated with a guarded prognosis and a mortality rate approaching 75%. However, there are infrequent causes of portal venous gas not associated with dire clinical outcomes. We describe three patients who made uneventful clinical recoveries after presenting with clinical and imaging manifestations of ischaemic bowel and hepatic portal venous gas, two of which had distended but non-necrotic bowel at laparotomy.

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Volume47, Issue3

September 2003

Pages 309-312

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