The Assessment of Inflammatory Aortic Aneurysms with Computed Tomography

SUMMARYInflammatory aneurysms are a rare and distinct form of abdominal aortic aneurysm that produce abdominal pain and a periaortic soft tissue mass. CT has a limited but useful role in the diagnosis and follow up of this condition.ABSTRACTThe CT scans of 8 patients with operatively diagnosed inflammatory aneurysms are presented. The scans were independently read by 4 radiologists in an attempt to assess the CT criteria and determine the correlation between surgical and CT diagnosis of this entry.In only 4 of the cases was inflammatory aneurysms thought the most likely diagnosis, it was a possible diagnosis in a further 2 cases. This result is most likely due to the marked similarity between this and other causes of periaortic soft tissue masses.In this study CT appears to have a definite but limited place in assessing inflammatory aortic aneurysms. It allows assessment of non specific abdominal pain in the presence of an aneurysm, aids in the diagnosis of periaortic masses and may warn the surgeon of the presence of inflammatory aneurysm. The initial management of a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm and abdominal pain however should remain surgical.