Unlikely Death From Esophageal Variceal Hemorrhage in a Post-Orthotopic Liver Transplant Patient

Abstract

Gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the complications seen after a liver transplant with a poor prognosis and low survival. The most common cause of gastrointestinal bleeding after a liver transplant is ulcers followed by hemorrhagic enteritis and portal hypertensive lesions. We present a case of a middle-aged male, with improving liver function labs and imaging, who passed away from large-volume hematemesis approximately 2 months after a liver transplant. On autopsy, the cause of death was concluded to be from acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to esophageal variceal bleeding.