Gastric Ulcer - A Cause of Portal Cavernoma and Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: Case Report

Abstract

Gastric ulcers, with a long duration of the disease, can lead to an inflammatory process in the upper abdomen (supramesocolic floor), with repercussions on the surrounding structures. Such ulcers can penetrate the gastric wall, toward the pancreas and hepatic hilum, the inflammatory process can lead to splenic vein trombosis and teh appearance of a portal cavernoma. A complication of the portal cavernoma and the portal hypertension is the formation of esophageal varices. This paper reports the case of a 58 years old patient with multiple episodes of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, determined by both, esophageal varices and existing gastric ulcers. This patient was initially diagnosed with portal cavernoma and the esophageal varices were considered the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. A spleno-renal shunt was proposed, but intraoperative it was found that this was not necessary because the portal vein was thrombosed and the bleeding was probably caused by the gastric lesions. We performed a distal spleno-pancreatectomy associated with a cuneiform resection of the gastric lession, as well as the resection of the hepatic tumor. The patient had a favorable postoperative outcome.