Hepatic artery aneurysms are rare vascular lesions sometimes found incidentally during abdominal imaging. We present the case of a 61-year-old man whose initial symptoms were tenderness in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen and epigastric pain. Gray-scale sonography revealed ascites and an 8.1-cm mass in the region of the porta hepatis; color Doppler sonography revealed a turbulent arterial waveform with high peak systolic velocity. We diagnosed a giant aneurysm of the common hepatic artery. Three-dimensional CT angiography confirmed this diagnosis and also revealed hemoperitoneum. The patient underwent aneurysmectomy and recovered well. This case shows that the use of both sonography and CT angiography offers a promising alternative to conventional angiography for the diagnosis of and treatment planning for hepatic artery aneurysms.
Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.