HEMOBILIA: REPORT OF A CASE OF MASSIVE GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING ORIGINATING FROM A HEPATIC ABSCESS

Abstract

The case described in this report, although not diagnosed clinically, presented characteristic features of intrahepatic hemobilia, such as "excruciating" abdominal pain preceding hematemesis and melena. On the basis of post-mortem findings, the fatal gastrointestinal hemorrhage was attributed to bleeding from eroded blood vessels in the wall of a large abscess deep in the hepatic parenchyma. This case, to our knowledge the 1st reported instance of biliary tract bleeding due to an abscess of the liver, emphasizes that hemobilia should be suspected whenever severe biliary colic is associated with unexplained gastrointestinal bleeding.