Publikation
Spontaneous rupture of an adrenal artery in pregnancy: a case report
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review - 30.12.2012
Bolla Daniele, Schyrba V, Drack Gero, Dietler S, Hornung René
Bereiche
PubMed
DOI
Kontakt
Zitation
Art
Zeitschrift
Veröffentlichungsdatum
eISSN (Online)
Seiten
Kurzbeschreibung/Zielsetzung
A spontaneous rupture of an adrenal artery is a rare cause of abdominal pain in pregnancy. We present a case of a pregnant woman who needed to be operated on because of a rupture of the right adrenal artery associated with a fetal bradycardia. An immediate caesarean section was performed. The intra-abdominal palpation identified an extensive retroperitoneal mass near the right kidney and a postoperative computer tomography confirmed an active bleeding near the kidney. For this reason our interventional radiology team, using a right femoral artery approach, performed a flush aortogram and identified the source of bleeding in the right adrenal artery. After two attempts, a coiling of the artery stopped the haemorrhage. The pathogenesis of arterial haemorrhage is still poorly understood although a possible cause could be the excess of hormones during pregnancy, which can lead to a significant arterial wall degeneration. In case of a retroperitoneal bleeding and if the patient is still haemodynamically stable, a transcatheter embolization using microcoils must be considered. This technique is nowadays safe and effective and can be performed within a short time with a lower risk of complications.