Bilateral Internal Iliac Artery Aneurysm Infected with Campylobacter fetus

Abstract

This is a case report of a patient with Campylobacter fetus involving bilateral internal iliac artery aneurysms. The patient was treated successfully by ligation of the bilateral iliac artery aneurysms and antibiotics. According to a review of the English-language medical literature, this was the first such patient to be reported. A 69-year-old African-American male presented with a past medical history of repair of a 6.6 cm abdominal aortic aneurysm. It had been repaired with a Dacron bifurcated graft in July 2005. The bilateral internal iliac artery aneurysms (right 2.3 cm and left 3.4 cm) were coil embolized intraoperatively. The patient's past medical history was significant for hypertension and coronary artery disease and was status post–stent placement. He re-presented with fever and chills for 8 days in duration at home in March 2007. His fever was 101 to 102°F. He denied vomiting, diarrhea, and a history of recent travel. The patient was admitted to the hospital for a fever workup. After an extensive workup, a left internal iliac artery aneurysm was found to be the source of sepsis. The patient was taken to the operating room for excision of the left internal iliac artery. No purulence was noted, but tissue overlying the aneurysm was thickened and fibrotic. Multiple cultures were taken. The tissue culture came back as C. fetus. Incidentally, the patient's preoperative computed tomographic scan revealed a right internal iliac artery aneurysm that was 4.2 cm on March 28, 2007, and 4.9 cm on April 23, 2007. Postoperatively, the patient's right internal iliac artery aneurysm was noted to be rapidly growing. He was promptly taken to the operating room for ligation of the right internal iliac artery aneurysm. The patient's postoperative course was unremarkable. He was discharged on ciprofloxacin for 14 days.