A Case of True Aneurysm of the Right Renal Artery

Abstract

ANY clear-cut pathologic entity that fails to yield more than 60 cases in 220 years, we feel, is worthy of report. The first case of aneurysm of the renal artery was reported by Nebel in 1719, although in a subsequent report (1770) Rouppe recalled a case he had had in 1717. Nebel's case was in a young physician who, four years prior to the report, had fallen from a horse and injured his left lumbar region. This was followed by attacks of severe pain and a slowly growing pulsating tumor. Strangely enough, a correct antemortem diagnosis was made. The patient died suddenly, and at autopsy a large aneurysm about the size of a child's head was encountered. Since that time, a total of 60 cases has been reported, ours making the sixty-first on record. Of these, only 18 were noted between 1717 and 1900; 43 have appeared since 1900. Very little has been written on this subject and many text books, even on pathology, fail to mention it. The first important papers were presented by Keen (1900), Morris (1900), and Zi...