INTRAABDOMINAL BLEEDING AS A RESULT OF SEGMENTAL MEDIOLYTIC ARTERITISOF AN OMENTAL ARTERY - CASE-REPORT

A seventy-three-year-old woman with intra-abdominal bleeding secondary to a ruptured omental artery was operated on successfully. Preoperati vely an emergency angiogram showed patchy areas of narrowing and beadi ng in the affected artery. The pathologic finding in the ruptured omen tal artery was segmental mediolytic arteritis, characterized by segmen tal disruption of the medial smooth muscle cells and the initiation of mediolysis. The authors report this rare case of spontaneous intra-ab dominal hemorrhage.