A Case of Situs Inversus Totalis with a Giant Splenic Artery Aneurysm

Abstract

A 56-year-old man presented with epigastric pain. He had a medical history of cerebellar infarction and type 2 diabetes mellitus. An enhanced abdominal CT scan revealed a giant splenic artery aneurysm (50 mm) and situs inversus totalis, and the patient was admitted to our hospital. We selected open abdominal surgery because of the aneurysm size and location. Very strong and extensive adhesions were noted between the aneurysm and the pancreas. Since we considered that resection of the aneurysm would be associated with a very high risk of postoperative pancreatic fistula, we performed ligation of the splenic artery aneurysm and splenectomy. No complications were seen during or after the operation, and the patient was discharged from the hospital on the 22nd postoperative day. Giant splenic artery aneurysms are very rare, and there is no surgical case report of a splenic artery aneurysm occurring in a patient with situs inversus totalis. We report this case with a report of the literature.