Abstract - Successful Coil Embolization for Spontaneous Arterial Rupture in Association with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type IV: Report of a Case

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Successful Coil Embolization for Spontaneous Arterial Rupture in Association

with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type IV: Report of a Case

Yuji Sugawara1, Koji Ban1, Katsuhiko Imai1, Kenji Okada1, Masanobu Watari1,

Kazumasa Orihashi1, Taijiro Sueda1 and Akira Naitoh2

(1) Department of Surgery, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku,

Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan

(2) Department of Radiology, Division of Clinical Medical Science,

Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan

Received: 04 September 2002 Accepted: 11 March 2003

Abstract When a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) presents with a

vascular emergency, performing life-saving surgery can be difficult because of

the profound fragility of the arterial tissue. We report the case of a

27-year-old woman with EDS in whom a spontaneous arterial rupture was

successfully treated with transcatheter embolization. The patient was brought to

our hospital in shock, with left lower abdominal pain. She had been diagnosed

with EDS type IV following a colonic rupture 8 years earlier. An emergency

angiogram revealed rupture of the left external iliac artery. The active

bleeding was managed by transarterial embolization of the ruptured artery using

stainless steel coils, which took 30min to achieve. The patient has not suffered

any further vascular complications during the year since this procedure.

Transcatheter coil embolization may be a reliable option for treating sudden

arterial rupture in patients with this syndrome.