title: [Spontaneous dissection of visceral blood vesssels--a rare cause of epigastric pain].
abstract: A 51 year-old man presented with acute abdominal pain in our emergency room. The first examination revealed no pathological findings except coprostasis and after an enteroclysis the patient was sent home without any complaints. During a recent episode of abdominal pain a computer tomography was performed, showing dissection of the superior mesenteric and the celiac artery. Without any signs of mesenteric ischemia additional examinations like laboratory studies, x-rays, and abdominal ultrasound might be normal and therefore not helpful for diagnosis. In patients presenting with persistent abdominal pain and unspecific clinical and laboratory findings rare causes of abdominal symptoms should be considered. Despite the rarity of visceral artery dissection, awareness of this pathology is crucial because of its possible lifethreatening complications. Appropriate diagnostic imaging tests may avoid postmortem diagnosis by the pathologist.
authors.affiliation: Departement für Innere Medizin Medizinische Poliklinik Universitätsspital Zürich Rämistrasse 100 8091 Zürich.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ruggieri
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Amann-Vesti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nigg
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002445:Celiac Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017538:Mesenteric Artery, Superior / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008641:Mesenteric Vascular Occlusion / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014781:Viscera / Q000098:blood supply*