A rare case of splenic infarct presenting with acute Abdomınal pain due to polyarteritis nodosa: case report and review of the literature
Burçak Kabaoğlu1, Halil Coşkun2, Hakan Yanar3, Ercan Karaarslan4, Tunç Yaltı11VKV Amerikan Hospital, Department of General Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey 2Şişli Etfal Teaching and Research Hospital, Department of General Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey 3İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey 4VKV Amerikan Hospital, Department of Radiology, İstanbul, Turkey
A 44 year-old man presented to the Emergency Department of American Hospital with severe pain persisting in the left upper quadrant for several hours. A computed tomographic scanning (CT scan) and celiac digital substraction angiography (DSA) of the abdomen demonstrated a splenic infarct. Histopathological examinations showed diffuse acute vasculitis, thrombosis, panvasculitis which led us to diagnose the case as "polyarteritis nodosa". The diagnosis is usually difficult to establish and it is usually delayed due to variable clinical manifestations dependent on the site and the extent of arterial involvement.