Hepatic portal vein gas as a complication of cryotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic portal vein gas (HPVG) is a radiological finding normally associated with life-threatening conditions such as mesenteric ischaemia and necrotising enterocolitis in infants. Its presence has previously been associated with a high mortality rate. As a result of more sensitive imaging modalities the spectrum of conditions for which portal vein gas is detected has broadened. We present a patient who developed HPVG as a complication of cryotherapy. The association between portal vein gas and cryotherapy has not previously been described in well over one thousand patients with hepatic cryotherapy reported in the literature.