Abstract
A 54-year-old woman had suffered from scleroderma and had taken corticosteroids from age 37. She complained of an abdominal pain in a region compatible with abdominal aorta and superior mesenteric artery aneurysms pointed out on computed tomography. Our diagnosis was symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysm and we performed an operation replacing the abdominal aortic aneurysm with a bifurcated prosthetic graft and resecting the superior mesenteric artery aneurysm. The abdominal aortic aneurysm was a chronic contained rupture with vertebral destruction. Pathological examination revealed the arterial wall to be replaced with fibrous connective tissue. We speculated that the cause of the aneurysms was long term corticosteroid therapy.
