title: Delayed hepatobiliary injury in a decompression sickness patient after scuba diving: case report.
abstract: We report here the first case of liver injury in a 51-year-old man following a dive to a depth of 40 meters. He presented with typical neurological symptoms affecting the lower limbs. Five days later, he experienced delayed abdominal pain, followed by rapidly progressive liver and adjacent organ injury due to air emboli in the intrahepatic portal vein. He received supportive care and hyperbaric therapy with a U.S. Navy Treatment Table 6 and recovered. Decompression sickness is a disease of protean manifestations. More information about venous gas emboli may be useful for better assessing decompression sickness. In this case, radiologic evaluation of the abdomen and the presentation of air bubbles in the portal vein in computed tomography played an essential role in diagnosing induced venous gas emboli in the liver and adjacent organs.
authors.forename: Hee Duck
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Huisu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eom
authors.forename: Young Joong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D003665:Decompression Sickness / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D004242:Diving / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010292:Paresthesia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed