Abdominal crisis in a young man with systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Medium-sized artery aneurysms are rare in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report on a 21-year-old Chinese man with SLE and secondary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) who presented with acute abdominal pain due to a ruptured right hepatic artery aneurysm. He was also found to have aneurysms of the left hepatic artery and splenic artery on autopsy. There have been only eight cases of hepatic artery aneurysm and one case of splenic artery aneurysm associated with SLE in the English literature. Abdominal aneurysm must be suspected in SLE patients presenting with acute abdominal pain, haemoperitoneum or occult bleeding.