Portomesenteric venous gas and pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in systemic sclerosis.

A 76-year-old woman with systemic sclerosis, who had been treated with antibiotics for lung suppuration for 4 weeks, complained of abdominal pain. Abdominal X-rays showed intestinal distension and hepatic portal gas (Figure 1). Plain abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans revealed the presence of gas in the superior mesenteric vein and portal vein, and pneumatosis intestinalis (Figure 2a and b). Contrast-enhanced abdominal CT scans performed 4h later indicated the gas disappearing in the superior mesenteric vein and portal vein