Open and Endovascular Management of Inferior Mesenteric Artery Aneurysms: A Report of Two Cases

Inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) aneurysms are a rare entity, attributing to 1% of Splanchnic aneurysms (Edogawa S, Shibuya T, Kurose K et al. Inferior mesenteric artery aneurysm: case report and literature review. Ann Vasc Dis 2013;6:98–101), often found incidentally on evaluation for other intra-abdominal pathologies. Similar to other visceral arterial aneurysms, there is an estimated 20–50% risk of potentially fatal rupture and repair is generally recommended. We report 2 patients with IMA aneurysms, using them as cases to illustrate feasibility of both open and endovascular management options. Patient 1 is a 69-year-old male with bilateral claudication found to have an asymptomatic 20-mm IMA aneurysm. This patient underwent aortobifemoral bypass with branch polytetrafluoroethylene graft to distal IMA after excision of IMA aneurysm. Patient 2 is a 32-year-old male who underwent an ex vivo renal artery aneurysm repair and was noted on routine follow-up to have an incidental saccular 1.5-cm IMA aneurysm for which he underwent endovascular coil embolization. Both patients had an unremarkable postoperative course with a notable absence of stigmata of bowel ischemia.