Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-22-2022

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) can present asymptomatically and may be found through routine screening or seen incidentally on imaging. Rupture due to weaking of the aortic wall is the main complication of an AAA and leads to approximately 200,000 deaths annually worldwide. Clinically, AAA rupture most frequently presents with abdominal and/or back pain, pulsatile abdominal mass, and hypotension. Here, we present an unusual presentation of embolic cerebrovascular accident associated with an AAA rupture.

CASE PRESENTATION: A 58-year-old African American man transported to the emergency department via ambulance presents with altered mental status and unilateral extremity weakness. The initial presentation was concerning for acute cerebrovascular accident, acute kidney injury, severe sepsis, and urinary tract infection. Several hours after the initial presentation, the patient's abdomen began to appear distended and he became hypotensive. An abdominal CT was ordered which showed a large AAA rupture with a retroperitoneal bleed. The patient was transferred to a higher-level medical center for surgical repair.

CONCLUSION: Abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture can rarely present due to an acute cerebrovascular accident with altered mental status and focal neurologic deficits.

Publication Title

International Journal of Emergency Medicine

Volume

15

Issue

1

First Page

28

Last Page

28

PubMed ID

35733090

Comments

This article was published in International Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 15, Issue 1.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12245-022-00433-5.

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). CC BY 4.0.

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