An Autopsy Case of Clostridial Gas Gangrene of the Liver

Masahiro Yoshida, Munemasa Ryu, Kazuo Watanabe, Yoshihiro Fujita, Ichiro Honda, Satoshi Watanabe, Yoshihiro Kawakami, Mitsuru Miyauchi, Wataru Takayama, Masayuki Hirokawa, Kazuhiro Sasada, Susumu Wakatsuki*

The Division of Gastroenterological Surgery and Surgical Pathology*, Chiba Cancer Center Hospital

An autopsy case of clostridial gas gangrene of the liver is reported. A 67-year-old woman, being treated by surgery and irradiation for double cancer consisting of duodenal cancer and gall bladder cancer suddenly developed a high fever and hematurea. Abdominal X-ray and computed tomography revealed an intrahepatic pneumatic tumor. Autopsy revealed systemic hemolysis in the muscles and organs. The liver appeared spongy, and histologically showed coagulation necrosis with colonies of gram-positive rods. Cultures of the blood and liver abscess yielded Clostridial perfringens and Escherihia coli.

Key words
gas gangrene of the liver, clostridium perfringens

Reprint requests
Masahiro Yoshida Department of Surgery, Akimoto Hospital
1315-1 Kohiji, Yaizu, 425 JAPAN

Accepted
April 1, 1992

To read the PDF file you will need Abobe Reader installed on your computer.