Saccular intrahepatic artery aneurysm.

A patient is presented with a bleeding intrahepatic artery saccular aneurysm. The patient had for years complained of intermittent abdominal pain and was admitted with acute colicky pain in the left upper abdomen, followed by acute severe anemia. She survived after ligation of the right hepatic artery and partial resection of the right liver lobe. The postoperative course was uneventful. These lesions are rare and the diagnosis and best methods of treatment are complicated. The classic triad-pain, obstructive jaundice and bleeding-occurs only in 33 percent of cases and is in general caused by trauma. Bleeding intrahepatic saccular aneurysms cause pain and anemia as primary symptoms. The success rate of operation is still low. A possible alternative to surgery is given by selective trans-catheter embolization.