Portal air embolism after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

The authors present an uncommon case of portal venous gas and contrast opacification that occured during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. This report demonstrates that portal vein cannulation may be a source of confusion because the guided wire trajectory inside the portal vein may be similar to that of the biliary, and a contrast washout/opacified portal vein may be misinterpreted as an incompletely filled bile duct.