We describe the case of a 61-year-old woman having a type 1 neurofibromatosis (von Recklinghausen disease), whose acute abdominal pain revealed a voluminous retroperitoneal hemorrhage caused by a 25-mm ruptured inferior mesenteric artery aneurysm. She underwent emergent aneurysm and left colonic resection. This report of a rare digestive artery aneurysm rupture, which added to increasing reports of vascular abnormalities in type 1 neurofibromatosis patients, underlines the need to maintain a high suspicion index of a vascular etiology in case of any abdominal complaint in these patients.
Copyright © 2012 Annals of Vascular Surgery Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.