Published online Mar 26, 2015. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v7.i3.157
Peer-review started: November 2, 2014
First decision: November 14, 2014
Revised: December 7, 2014
Accepted: January 18, 2015
Article in press: January 20, 2015
Published online: March 26, 2015
Processing time: 131 Days and 15.1 Hours
We are presenting a case of one of the largest un-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm ever reported. Presented here is a rare case of a 69-year-old active smoker male with history of hypertension and incidental diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm of 6.2 cm in 2003, who refused surgical intervention at the time of diagnosis with continued smoking habit and was managed medically. Patient was subsequently admitted in 2012 to the hospital due to unresponsiveness secondary to hypoglycemia along with diagnosis of massive symptomatic pulmonary embolism and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction. With the further inpatient workup along with known history of abdominal aortic aneurysm, subsequent computed tomography scan of abdomen pelvis revealed increased in size of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm to 9.1 cm of without any signs of rupture. Patient was unable to undergo any surgical intervention this time because of his medical instability and was eventually passed away under hospice care.
Core tip: Regular screening of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm with abdominal ultrasound to prevent catastrophic complication of aortic rupture and early aggressive surgical intervention when indicated.