Surgical and interventional management of splenic artery aneurysms

Objective To assess the treatment of splenic artery aneurysms (SAA) and prognosis.Methods Clinical data of 18 SAA patients treated in our hospital from 1999 to 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Results There were 18 patients diagnosed as SAA,including 7 males and 11 females.The average age was 53.8 ± 7.3 years.8 patients were asymptomatic found by routine physical examination,7 patients complained upper left abdominal pain,3 cases suffered from aneurysm rupture. Diagnosis was established by three-dimensional computed tomography angiography (3DCTA) in 14,Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in 3 and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in 1 patient.Three patients with ruptured splenic artery aneurysm underwent emergent operations,11 patients underwent elective surgery or interventional therapy.Surgical procedures included aneurysmectomy and splenectomy in 4 patients,distal pancreatectomy in 5 cases; aneurysmectomy and splenic artery ligation in one patient; and aneurysmectomy with splenectomy and colon resection in 1 case.Interventional embolization by coils of the splenic aneurysm in 3 patients.The remaining 4 being asymptomatic and with tumor diameter less than 2 cm were put on a close follow-up.There was no perioperative mortality.Two were lost to follow-up.16 cases were followed-up for averaging 3.2 years. 1 patient died of cerebral hemorrhage after four years. Conclusions Splenic artery aneurysms was a rare disease and with usually occult symptoms,but rupture can leads to abdominal apoplexy.Open surgery and minimally invasive endovascular treatment is effective and offers a good prognosis. Key words: Aneurysm;  Splenic artery;  Splenectomy;  Embolization therapeutic