[Hepatic artery aneurysm]

We report the case of a 45-year old man who presented a common hepatic artery aneurysm. He had alcoholic habits and after an episode of upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding underwent an abdominal ultrasound study. This showed a large fluid-filled upper abdominal mass related to the pancreatic head. Both T scan and an angiogram showed an hepatic artery aneurysm. It was resected and the artery repaired interposing a saphenous vein graft. The patient was discharged a week after surgery. Most of the hepatic artery aneurysms are free of symptoms and difficult to palpate and only a few patients can be operated before the occurrence of aneurysmal fissure. Broad use of ultrasound and selective angiography has increased the number of cases diagnosed before complications, reducing the mortality rate, which, in the past, has been reported up to 59%.