Radiological findings and endovascular management of three cases with segmental arterial mediolysis

Segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM) is an uncommon self-limited disorder that can cause abdominal catastrophes through massive bleeding or bowel infarction. The former arise from arterial aneurysms, and the latter from arterial stenosis or occlusions. Although this is an acute self-limiting disease, the catastrophic consequence, originating from intra-abdominal hemorrhage (arterial dilatation, aneurysms, dissecting hematomas) or bowel infarction (arterial stenosis, arterial occlusions), is not rare. The identification of these lesions is very important in the differential diagnosis of suspected patients with complaints of abdominal pain with hemorrhage. We report computerized tomography angiography and digital subtraction angiography findings of three cases with abdominal SAM, who were treated with endovascular management due to abdominal bleeding. Angiography showed arterial dilatations, aneurysms, and occlusions of visceral arteries in all three cases, The string-of-beads appearance was present in only one case. Bleeding stopped immediately after embolization of three cases and follow-up revealed no evidence of recurrences at 23, 18, and 15 months, respectively, Arterial coil embolization is an effective treatment modality for bleeding complications of SAM. Close follow-up is recommended, primarily to ascertain the fate of the nontreated arterial lesions.