SPONTANEOUS RUPTURE OF A PANCREATIC PSEUDOCYST INTO THE PORTAL-VEIN

An unusual complication of pancreatic pseudocyst is reported. A 47-yea r-old woman with chronic liver disease and a history of recurrent panc reatitis died of fulminant, gram-negative septic shock. Acute, bilater al thigh cellulitis with tissue culture positive for Escherichia coli was the only potential infectious source identified. Autopsy revealed a pseudocyst in the head of the pancreas that had eroded into the port al vein, with embolization of mucoid cyst material into intrahepatic p ortal vein branches. Fibrous organization and recanalization of some o f the occluded portal vein branches indicated that this process had be en present for weeks to months and was therefore not the direct cause of death. The literature on this unusual complication of pancratic pse udocyst is also reviewed.