Common bile duct obstruction by portal cavernoma

Summary

Obstructive jaundice occurring in a patient with portal hypertension is a rare association. In this report, a 24-year-old patient is described who had biliary obstruction due to a portal cavernoma compressing the common bile duct and in whom surgical decompression of the portal system resulted in relief of the biliary obstruction, thus proving that the dilated portal vein collaterals were compressing the biliary tract and producing jaundice. Although biliary obstruction due to a portal cavernoma has been described earlier, this is, to the best of our knowledge, the first case described in which improvement followed shunt surgery.