A Sinister Gut Feeling

Women are generally spared from abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) formation by the immunomodulating effects of estrogen. However, once they develop it, especially in the postmenopausal group, its behavior is more sinister with rapid expansion, a higher tendency to rupture, and higher mortality as compared to the male counterparts. Reported here is a case of AAA in a postmenopausal woman who came to the outpatient department with low backache, vague abdominal pain, and dysuria which initially gave a picture of pelvic inflammation with urinary tract infection but was later found out to be aortic aneurysm.