Transcatheter arterial embolization of a splenic artery aneurysm with N-butyl cyanoacrylate/lipiodol/ethanol mixture with coil-assisted sandwich technique.

Abstract

Splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) is the most common visceral artery aneurysm, with a reported prevalence of 0.8% on arteriography and 0.04–0.10% at autopsy (1). Abbas et al . (2) reported that asymptomatic SAAs of >2 cm in size have an increased risk of rupture. SAAs are both more frequent and larger in adults with chronic liver disease and portal hypertension (3), and SAA rupture is associated with a higher mortality rate in patients with portal hypertension than in other patients (3). Percutaneous transcatheter embolization of SAAs with coils is widely accepted as the first line of treatment because it is safe, has a low mortality rate, and provides adequate short- and long-term results (4).