Spontaneous hepatic hemorrhage as unusual cause of acute intra-abdominal hemorrhage

Abstract

Spontaneous hepatic hemorrhage (SHH) is a rare condition resulting from a breach in the hepatic parenchyma that occurs without an external cause. We report the case of a 74-year-old woman who, while being hospitalized due to exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), presented an episode of SHH with hemorrhagic shock. She underwent atypical resection of a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with active bleeding in liver segment III. The patient had a favorable response to the initial treatment but died in the intensive care unit (ICU) on postoperative day 16 due to a respiratory tract complication.