Leaking Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

LEAKING ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM WITH MURAL THROMBUS

An aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall. 

As blood passes through the weakened blood vessel,
 the blood pressure causes it to bulge outwards like a balloon.
(image of leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm measuring 9.5x5.6cms with thrombus in long scan)

The abdominal aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body.
 It is roughly the width of a garden hose.
 It transports oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the rest of the body.

It runs in a straight line down from the heart, through the chest and abdomen before branching off into a network of smaller blood vessels.

 A ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm can cause massive internal bleeding, which is usually fatal. Four out of five people with a ruptured aortic aneurysm will die as a result.

The most common symptom of a ruptured aortic aneurysm is 

sudden and severe pain in the abdomen.

TRANS SONOGRAM OF ABDOMINAL AORTA SHOWS  MURAL THROMBUS.

. Ultrasonography usually gives a clear picture of the size of an aneurysm.
 Ultrasound has about 98% accuracy in measuring the size of the aneurysm and is safe and noninvasive.The aortic wall has three layers, the tunica adventitia, tunica media, and tunica intima. The layers add strength to the aorta as well as elasticity to tolerate changes in blood pressure. Chronically increased blood pressure causes the media layer to break down and leads to the continuous, slow dilation of the aorta.

LEAKING ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM-

Most abdominal aortic aneurysms produce no symptoms and are discovered incidentally when an imaging test of the abdomen  is performed. 

They can also be detected by physical examination when the health care professional feels the 

abdomen and listens for a bruit, the sound made by turbulent blood flow.

Pain is the most common symptom when the aneurysm expands or ruptures.

 It often begins in the central abdomen and radiates to the back or flank. 

Other symptoms can occur depending upon where the aneurysm is located in the aorta and whether nearby structures are affected.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms can remain asymptomatic or produce minimal symptoms for years. 

LEAKING ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM INTO THE RETROPERITONEAL SPACE WITH MASSIVE ACUTE INFLAMMATORY REACTION ..
Rapidly expanding abdominal aneurysm can cause sudden onset of severe, steady, and worsening middle abdominal and back or flank pain. Rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm can be catastrophic, even lethal, and is associated with abdominal distension,
 a pulsating abdominal mass, due to massive blood loss.