The rare case of a symptomatic atherosclerotic aneurysm of the superior epigastric artery mimicking an acute cholecystitis.
True aneurysms of the epigastric artery are rare. We report a case of a 65-year-old female who was admitted for increasing upper abdominal pain. A leukocytosis, pyrexia, breathing stop on inspiration, and a palpable mass next to the right costal arch with severe local pain were suspicious for acute cholecystitis. Surprisingly, sonography and CT scan revealed a 5 x 4 cm structure limited to the abdominal wall directly above the gallbladder, which showed an arterial flow in the duplex scan. After resection and an uneventful postoperative course, the histological findings confirmed the diagnosis of a symptomatic true atherosclerotic aneurysm.
Seifert
Sven
S
Department of Visceral, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Dresden, Dresden, Germany. sven.seifert@uniklinikum-dresden.de
Denz
Axel
A
Dittert
Dag-Daniel D
DD
Saeger
Hans D
HD
D000368:Aged; D000783:Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D041881:Cholecystitis, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019074:Epigastric Arteries; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008026:Ligation; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods