Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 28, 2015; 21(4): 1362-1364
Published online Jan 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i4.1362
Unusual case of digestive hemorrhage: Celiac axis-portal vein arteriovenous fistula
Yi-Ren Liu, Bin Huang, Ding Yuan, Zhou-Peng Wu, Ji-Chun Zhao
Yi-Ren Liu, Bin Huang, Ding Yuan, Zhou-Peng Wu, Ji-Chun Zhao, Department of vascular surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Liu YR and Huang B are joint first authors and performed the majority of experiments; Zhao JC designed the study and wrote the manuscript; Yuan D was involved in editing the manuscript; and Wu ZP collected the human samples.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ji-Chun Zhao, MD, Department of vascular surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, 37 Guo Xue Alley, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. hxzhao6@163.com
Telephone: +86-28-85423008 Fax: +86-28-85423008
Received: June 16, 2014
Peer-review started: June 17, 2014
First decision: June 27, 2014
Revised: August 6, 2014
Accepted: September 18, 2014
Article in press: September 19, 2014
Published online: January 28, 2015
Abstract

A case of intractable upper gastrointestinal-hemorrhage was reported in a patient with portal hypertension caused by an arterioportal fistula (APF), namely, celiac axis-portal vein arteriovenous fistula. Portal hypertension caused by extrahepatic-APFs is extremely rare. Trauma, malignancy, and hereditary causes are the common etiology of APFs; but were absent in our patient. Our patient represents an unusual case of unexplained APF who presented with portal hypertension and was successfully managed through endovascular aortic repair.

Keywords: Arterioportal fistula, Portal hypertension, Endovascular aortic repair

Core tip: We present a rare case of intractable upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to celiac axis-portal vein arteriovenous fistula. Through this case report, we hope to highlight diagnosis of this unusual condition, and discuss our subsequent management. This case represents an unusual cases of unexplained presenting with portal hypertension that was successfully managed through endovascular aortic repair.