Liver infarction after Whipple's surgery. Diagnosis based on clinical course and imaging procedures

Abstract

A 59-year-old woman who had undergone a Whipple's operation for carcinoma of the head of the pancreas, developed septic fever of up to 40 degrees C on the fourth postoperative day, accompanied by severe upper abdominal pain and local guarding on palpation over the liver. Her general condition markedly and quickly deteriorated. Liver abscess was suspected. Computed tomography demonstrated a hypodense, wedge-shaped lesion in the right lobe of the liver without any abscess capsule. Liver infarction was diagnosed when injection of contrast medium failed to show any increase in density. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the wedge-shaped signal-rich lesion. Laboratory tests revealed a leucocytosis of 30,000/microliters, a postoperative rise in serum alkaline phosphatase activity (up to 800 U/l), gamma-glutamyl transaminase (up to 190 U/l) and lactate dehydrogenase (up to 320 U/l), while GOT and GPT activities remained within normal limits throughout. Fever subsided within 3 weeks. --It is stressed that, if a patient's condition worsens after a major abdominal operation, liver infarction should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Modern imaging methods have increased the frequency of this diagnosis. They, together with the clinical picture and the pattern of biochemical tests, make it possible to distinguish reliably infarction from liver abscess.