McMahon Daniel P, Ward William H, Harwood Jared L, Moore Erin M
Department of Vascular Surgery, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, VA 23708-2197, USA.
Mil Med. 2012 Jan;177(1):96-8. doi: 10.7205/milmed-d-11-00252.
To determine the prevalence of splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) in women of childbearing age and the incidence of peripartum rupture to ascertain a possible benefit of screening this potentially high-risk population.
Patients diagnosed with SAA over a 6-year period were collected from a single institutional medical records database. Inclusion criteria included female gender and age between 15 and 49 years. The number of abdominal computed tomography studies performed on our study population during the study period was compared to the number of detected SAAs. The number of deliveries at our institution during the study period was compared to the number of peripartum SAA ruptures. The resultant data were used to calculate the prevalence of SAA in childbearing-aged females and the incidence of SAA rupture during pregnancy.
The prevalence of SAA in childbearing-aged females and incidence of rupture during pregnancy were less than 0.1%.
Radiologic screening of all childbearing-aged females is not warranted, but identification of those at greater risk of harboring an asymptomatic SAA, along with the early institution of treatment according to current guidelines, may prevent maternal and fetal mortality in the rare event of SAA rupture during pregnancy.
