title: Splenic artery aneurysm in a cardiac transplant patient: a case report.
abstract: We present the case of a 61-year-old woman who underwent repair of a symptomatic 4-cm splenic artery aneurysm. This patient had received heart transplantation for hypertrophic congestive cardiomyopathy 5 years before this event. She was under immunosuppression therapy with cyclosporine, prednisone and azathioprine. The aneurysm was ligated both proximally and distally without removal of the spleen. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an isolated splenic artery aneurysm in the heart transplant population. We discuss the potential role of immunosuppressive agents and hormonal factors in the development of this extremely rare occurrence.
authors.affiliation: First Surgical Department, General Regional Hospital "George Papanikolaou", Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Megalopoulos
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vasiliadis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siminas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotronis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatzopoulos
mesh_terms: D000783:Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D008026:Ligation; D008875:Middle Aged; D013157:Splenic Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents