Splenic artery aneurysm is a rare disease whose incidence varies from 1.6% in autopsies of the general population to 7.1% in autopsies of people suffering from portal hypertension.¹ It was first describt by Beussier 9 in 1770. In most cases the aneurysms are detected as occasional finds during clinical investigation of other diseases.² lt is being diagnosed more frequently nowadays because of the increasing use of Duplex Scan, computorized tomografy and visceral arteriography.11 ln opposition to the aneurysms of great vessels, which are more frequent in men, aneurysms of the splenic artery is more frequent in women.³ This study investigates ten patients with aneurysms of the splenic artery, treated in the Universitary Hospital Clementino Fraga Filho between 1978 and 1997. The diagnosis was made by arteriography in four patients, by tomography in two, by ultrasound in two. One aneurysm was diagnosed by simple abdominal X-ray and one could only be found during the surgical procedure, as it was ruptured. There was a total of 14 aneurysms, unique in nine patients and multiple (five) in one. We found a predominance of women in a rate of four women to each man. Surgical treatment was made in 60% of the patients, embolization with Gianturco coills and Gellfoan in 10%, association of embolization and surgery in 10% and clinical treatment in 20%. There was no death during treatment.
Aneurysm; Splenic artery