Acute abdomen in a haemodialysed patient with polycystic kidney disease--rupture of a massive liver cyst

Apixaban Causing Hepatic Cystic Bleeding: A Rare but a Life-Threatening Complication

Cystic lesions of the liver are a heterogeneous group of disorders with varied etiology, prevalence, and clinical manifestations. Fibropolycystic liver disease encompasses a spectrum of related liver and biliary tract lesions caused by abnormal embryologic development of the ductal plates. These disorders include congenital hepatic fibrosis, biliary hamartomas, polycystic liver disease (PCLD), choledochal cysts, and Carolis disease. PCLD is arbitrarily defined as a liver that contains >20 cysts. Most liver cysts are incidentally found on imaging studies, and the majority of the patients with liver cysts are asymptomatic. Rarely, complications such as compression, infection, and bleeding within the cyst can occur. Under the effect of the increased pressure, the epithelial lining of the cyst undergoes necrosis and sloughing, causing injury of the fragile blood vessels, leading to intracystic bleeding. The bleeding within or from the cyst can be precipitated by anticoagulation. We present a patient with PCLD who developed intracystic bleeding after he was started on apixaban for the prevention of thromboembolism.

Biliary peritonitis due to liver cyst rupture in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

Background

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most frequent genetic kidney disease and polycystic liver disease is its major extrarenal manifestation, however biliary peritonitis due to a liver cyst rupture is extremely rare.

Case presentation

The patient was a 71-year-old Japanese woman who was diagnosed with ADPKD 3 years previously and developed right abdominal pain suddenly 1 month previously. As abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed a ruptured liver cyst in the right lobe, she was admitted to our hospital. Her symptoms improved with conservative management and she was discharged from the hospital after 1 week. Although she was asymptomatic for a while, she noticed abdominal distension and general malaise at 1 month after hospital discharge. Since abdominal CT showed massive ascites, she was admitted to our hospital again. A physical examination revealed abdominal distention without tenderness. Her serum creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, total bilirubin, and CA19-9 were elevated. Abdominal paracentesis revealed amber transparent ascites and the bilirubin and CA19-9 concentrations were high. She was diagnosed with biliary peritonitis due to a ruptured liver cyst. Hemodialysis treatment was initiated with drainage of the ascites. The outflow of the ascites was no tendency to decrease and drip infusion cholangiography (DIC)-CT revealed a communication between the ruptured cyst and an intrahepatic bile duct. On day 31, she was transferred to a university hospital and abdominal surgery was performed. After removing the necrotic roof of the ruptured cyst on the right liver lobe, the orifice of the bile leakage was sutured. Cholecystectomy was performed and cholangiography showed no stones in the common bile duct. Abdominal CT one month after the operation showed no recurrence of ascites and she was discharged on day 49. Hemodialysis treatment was discontinued immediately after discharge because urine volume increased and her creatinine level decreased. There has been no recurrence of ascites since then.

Conclusions

While rare, biliary peritonitis can occur in association with the rupture of a liver cyst in ADPKD patients due to communication between the cyst and the intrahepatic bile duct, and DIC-CT should be recommended when biliary cyst rupture is suspected.

Spontaneous rupture of non-parasitic or non-neoplastic multiple and giant liver cysts: report of a case

Simple liver cysts occasionally cause pressure symptoms of the abdomen. We herein report an extremely rare case of spontaneous rupture of simple liver cysts. A 65-year-old woman suffered abdominal fullness and dyspnea. Laboratory examinations revealed general inflammation and mild hepatorenal dysfunction. Computed tomography revealed giant polycystic liver and ascites. Echinococcus antibody was not detected. Abdominal paracentesis provided dark brown transparent ascites in which any parasites or tumor cells were not observed. We diagnosed spontaneous rupture of isolated polycystic liver disease (PCLD) and continuously drained the ascites. After the symptoms and laboratory data were improved, resection of liver cysts and left lateral segmentectomy were performed. Histopathologically, simple columnar epithelia inside of cyst walls were observed. The patient remains well without recurrence of the symptoms 10 months after the surgery. We reviewed characteristics of PCLD and considered appropriate treatment for spontaneous rupture of simple liver cysts based on the previous case reports including the present case.

Acute abdomen and ascites as presenting features of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

We describe a patient with sudden onset of abdominal pain and ascites, leading to the diagnosis of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Her presentation was consistent with acute liver cyst rupture as the cause of her acute illness. A review of literature on polycystic liver disease in patients with ADPKD and current management strategies are presented. This case alerts physicians that ADPKD could occasionally present as an acute abdomen; cyst rupture related to ADPKD may be considered in the differential diagnoses of acute abdomen.

Bilateral spontaneous perirenal hemorrhage in an acquired cystic kidney disease hemodialysis patient

Acquired cystic kidney disease (ACKD) is a well-known late stage complication of chronic kidney disease. Cysts tend to grow with time on dialysis and could lead to malignant transformation, and intra- or perirenal hemorrhage is a rare complication of ACKD. Here we describe one case of bilateral spontaneous perirenal hemorrhage of ACKD in a 44-year-old man, on hemodialysis for 15 years. One was due to cyst rupture, and the other was due to aneurism rupture, both were controlled with transcatheter arterial embolization. In renal arteriography at the second rupture, we demonstrated extravasation from an aneurysm being present at the periphery of right renal artery. Several spontaneous perirenal hemorrhage cases were reported but its clinical information is limited, moreover, bilateral cases were extremely rare. Furthermore, to our knowledge, this is the first report of spontaneous perirenal hemorrhage caused by intraparenchymal renal artery aneurysm rupture in ACKD patients. We report this case because of its rarity and significance with respect to the complication of dialysis patients, review reported bilateral cases, and discuss some clinical characteristics.

Cardiovascular characterization of Pkd2+/LacZ mice, an animal model for the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease type 2 (ADPKD2)

BACKGROUND

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is caused by mutations in PKD1 or PKD2. Patients with ADPKD have an increased incidence of cardiac valve abnormalities and left ventricular hypertrophy. Systematic analyses of cardiovascular involvement have so far been performed only on genetically unclassified patients or on ADPKD1 patients, but not on genetically defined ADPKD2 patients. Even existing Pkd1 or Pkd2 mouse models were not thoroughly analyzed in this respect. Therefore, the aim of this project was the noninvasive functional cardiovascular characterization of a mouse model for ADPKD2.

METHODS

Pkd2(+/LacZ) mice and wildtype controls were classified into 8 groups with respect to gender, age and genotype. In addition, two subgroups of female mice were analyzed for cardiac function before and during advanced pregnancy. Doppler-echocardiographic as well as histological studies were performed.

RESULTS

Doppler-echocardiography did not reveal significant cardiovascular changes. Heart rate and left ventricular (LV) length, LV mass, LV enddiastolic and LV endsystolic diameters did not differ significantly among the various groups when comparing wildtype and knockout mice. There were no significant differences except for a tendency towards higher maximal early and late flow velocities over the mitral valve in old wildtype mice.

CONCLUSIONS

Non-invasive phenotyping using ultrasound did not reveal significant cardiovascular difference between adult Pkd2(+/LacZ) and WT mice. Due to the lack of an obvious renal phenotype in heterozygous mice, it is likely that in conventional ADPKD knock out mouse models severe cardiac problems appear too late to be identified during the reduced lifespan of the animals.

Polycystic liver disease: experience at a teaching hospital

OBJECTIVES

This study describes the natural history of patients with polycystic liver disease, a rare disorder characterized by multiple hepatic cysts.

METHODS

Cases were identified through review of charts from a hepatology practice, a hepatobiliary surgery practice and a retrospective chart review of inpatient charts from 1990 to 2002. All patients had greater than four simple liver cysts without infectious etiology. Medical records were reviewed for history, physical examination, imaging, and laboratory data. Patients' family practitioners provided follow-up.

RESULTS

Fifty-three cases (62.3% female, 37.7% male) were identified. The mean age at diagnosis was 56.4 yr. Thirty-eight cases (71.7%) had associated polycystic kidney disease. The minority of patients were symptomatic at diagnosis (pain in 19 (36.5%), dyspnea in 5 (9.6%), and restricted mobility in 5 (9.6%) with hepatomegaly in 23 (45.1%). Follow-up information was attainable for 40 patients with a mean follow-up duration of 4.69 yr (range 0.1-15 yr). Within this subgroup, 9 patients (22.5%) had cyst bleeding, 5 (12.5%) had cyst rupture, 5 (12.5%) had cyst infection, 12 (30%) required an intervention. One patient (2.5%) developed portal hypertension, and two (5%) received a liver transplant. One patient (2.5%) died due to complications from liver cysts.

CONCLUSIONS

Most patients in this highly selected cohort were asymptomatic with normal hepatic function. Pain was the most common symptom. The natural history is variable however, with some patients developing complications including portal hypertension. Minimally invasive interventions are appropriate initially, with hepatic resection and liver transplantation reserved for those with severe symptoms or life-threatening complications.

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt placement in the setting of polycystic liver disease: questioning the contraindication

Although polycystic liver disease has long been listed as a contraindication to transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation, two cases of TIPS placement in that particular clinical setting have been reported. Another case is reported in this article and the clinical course over 21 months of follow-up is examined. The discussion reviews the mechanics of TIPS creation in a polycystic liver and the vague premise of the polycystic liver as a contraindication to TIPS.