Arterial complications of pancreatitis: diagnostic and therapeutic aspects in 104 cases

PURPOSE: A retrospective study of 104 cases of arterial lesions related to pancreatitis was undertaken to examine the diagnostic and therapeutic benefits of arteriography compared with ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data were acquired from responses to a questionnaire. Eighty-seven patients were men, 17 were women (age range, 21-80 years; mean, 48 years). These lesions were usually revealed by hemorrhage (70 cases), pain (69 cases), or both (46 cases). RESULTS: Arteriography was immediately positive in 90 of 93 patients in whom it was performed, but US and CT may also permit incidental discovery of silent lesions (17 cases). These lesions are often single (90%) and related to an arterial rupture in a pseudocyst (60%) or a pseudoaneurysm (48%). They involved the splenic (42%), the gastroduodenal (22%), and the small pancreatic arteries (25%). Of 32 cases in which embolization was performed, immediate success was achieved in all cases but bleeding recurred in 12 cases (37%). Treatment in 25 patients was a definitive success (78%), and five patients died of hemorrhage (16%). CONCLUSION: Arteriography remains essential for diagnosis of arterial lesions, and embolization may be indicated as a stabilizing preoperative procedure and also for immediately stopping hemorrhage.