Intra-abdominal Bleeding as a Result of Segmental Mediolytic Arteritis of 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. Preoperatively an emergency angiogram showed patchy areas of narrowing and beading in the affected artery. The pathologic finding in the ruptured omental artery was segmental mediolytic arteritis, characterized by segmental disruption of the medial smooth muscle cells and the initiation of mediolysis. The authors report this rare case of spontaneous intra-abdominal hemorrhage.