[Two patients with fever, chills and pain in the right upper abdominal quadrant accompanied by hyperbilirubinaemia:...

Two male patients aged 55 and 77 years, respectively, presented to the casualty department with fever, chills and right abdominal upper quadrant tenderness. They also had hyperbilirubinaemia. Based on CT scan findings and blood cultures yielding Bacteroides fragilis, a diagnosis of pylephlebitis (septic thrombophlebitis of the mesenteric veins and/or the portal vein) was made. This is a condition with a mortality rate of 10-70%. Primary sources such as diverticulitis are often seen in patients with pylephlebitis, in which bacteria are drained by the mesenteric veins and cause a thrombus in the portal system. In the two patients no primary focus was detected. They were treated with intravenous antibiotic therapy followed by oral antibiotics, and were discharged in good health. Pylephlebitis can be complicated by liver abscesses. Treatment consists of broad-spectrum antibiotics which are adjusted based on the blood cultures results. The duration of treatment is between two and six weeks, depending on the presence of liver abscesses. In patients with abscesses that cannot be drained, longer treatment may be indicated.