title: An unusual presentation of periarteritis nodosa.
abstract: Periarteritis nodosa is characterized by generalized inflammation of medium and small arteries that leads to thrombosis or aneurysmal dilatation. We report the case of a 30-year-old man with no preceding signs or symptoms who presented initially with a chief complaint of mild abdominal pain. He deteriorated clinically during the next six to eight hours, and developed shock secondary to a ruptured aneurysm of the left gastric artery. His postoperative course was complicated by recurrent bleeding and death within 48 hours. Our case represents a protean clinical manifestation of periarteritis nodosa and expands the differential diagnosis of acute abdominal pain.
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000328:Adult; D000783:Aneurysm / Q000209:etiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D010488:Polyarteritis Nodosa / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D012077:Renal Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D013270:Stomach / Q000098:blood supply