title: Successful laparoscopic right gastroepiploic aneurysmectomy: report of a case.
abstract: A 75-year-old woman presented with a pulsatile, movable mass, about 5 cm in diameter, in her lower abdomen. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed a circular mass with a variable hypo- and isoechoic border and a hypoechoic center. Color Doppler echography showed blood flow in the hypoechoic center, which was strongly enhanced on contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Based on these findings, we diagnosed a splanchnic artery aneurysm; however, celiac arteriography, performed twice, could not definitively identify it. An operation was performed under the tentative diagnosis of an aneurysm of the superior mesenteric artery or the gastroepiploic artery. On laparoscopic exploration, a globe-shaped mass, about 5 cm in diameter, was found in the right side of the greater omentum, which was diagnosed as an aneurysm of the right gastroepiploic artery. We resected the aneurysm laparoscopically and the patient had an uneventful postoperative course. Thus, laparoscopic surgery was effective for this patient who required no vascular reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hakodate Central General Hospital, Hakodate, Japan.
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamabuki
authors.forename: Tetsufumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitashiro
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Konishi
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katoh
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katoh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000783:Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D024405:Gastroepiploic Artery / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D009852:Omentum / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013152:Splanchnic Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D013270:Stomach / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed