Hemobilia as the initial manifestation of cholangiocarcinoma in a hemophilia B patient

Abstract

Hemobilia is a rare manifestation of hemophilia and is usually iatrogenic following liver biopsy. There are only few reports of spontaneous hemobilia in hemophilia patients. Cholangiocarcinoma is a well-established cause of hemobilia. We describe a case of a 70-year-old male, with known haemophilia B and a past history of papillotomy, who presented with classical symptoms of hemobilia. The initial diagnostic work-up failed to demonstrate a potential cause of bleeding other than the coagulopathy. Three months later, he was readmitted to our hospital with a second episode of hemobilia. During the second work-up, a cholangiocarcinoma was diagnosed both by imaging studies and by a significant elevation of cancer antigen 19-9. Although hemobilia could be attributed to hemophilia, especially in a patient with previous papillotomy, an underlying malignancy of the biliary tree should be suspected. (C) 2008 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.