A 29-year-old man with a history of alcohol misuse presented with acute abdominal pain, vomiting, and a tense and tender abdomen. Serum amylase and lipase levels were elevated, and acute pancreatitis was diagnosed. Computed tomography revealed a bilateral renal halo sign (Figure) and oedema of the pancreas with multiple fluid collections. The halo appears as ground-glass attenuation on imaging, due to enhancement of the perirenal fat from the retroperitoneal collection of pancreatic exudates.1 Bilateral perirenal fluid collections are rare2 and suggest pancreatitis.1
- Ganesh Athappan1,2
- Venkatesh K Ariyamuthu3
- Virusankulam K Rajamani3
- 1 Internal Medicine, Caritas St Elizabeth Medical Center, Boston, Mass, USA.
- 2 Tufts School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, Mass, USA.
- 3 Madras Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Correspondence: ganeshathappan@gmail.com
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