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Endoscopy 2004; 36(5): 442-446
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-814323
Case Report
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Distal Embolization and Local Vessel Wall Ulceration after Gastric Variceal Obliteration with N-Butyl-2-Cyanoacrylate: a Case Report and Review of the Literature

K.  Kok1 , R.  P.  Bond1, 3 , I.  C.  Duncan2 , P.  A.  Fourie2 , C.  Ziady1 , J.  B.  van den Bogaerde1 , S.  W.  van der Merwe1, 3
  • 1Dept. of Gastroenterology, Unitas Hospital, Netcare, Pretoria, South Africa
  • 2Interventional Radiology Unit, Unitas Hospital, Netcare, Pretoria, South Africa
  • 3Dept. of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Further Information

Publication History

Submitted 26 June 2003

Accepted after Revision 13 December 2003

Publication Date:
21 April 2004 (online)

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Repeated endoscopic injections of N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate mixtures into large gastric varices in a single patient led to two complications: initially, pulmonary embolism, and later local ulceration of the wall of a varix. The latter resulted in massive uncontrollable hemorrhage that ultimately led to a fatal outcome. This case report also analyzes complications reported in the literature during similar endoscopic procedures for gastric varices.

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S. W. Van der Merwe, M.D.

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