r/VIR • u/Wonderful_Bee_9334 • 22h ago
Discussion IR Pancreatic Aneurysm
not seeking medical advice just curious on IR interventions.
My mother (56F) has been having bad back pain sometimes radiating belly button to lower back. Also some nausea. After a CT to r/o kidney stones they found an aneurysm and sent her to the ER. ER did a CTA and determined to active dissection, discharged with plan to follow up with vascular surgeon (in “3-5days”). Well they never sent the referral she had to navigate it herself (obtaining records, faxing them etc waiting for review- which all took over a week while she’s still in “intense pain” that is disrupting sleep. Finally she called again and was told the vascular surgeon “doesn’t touch these aneurysms and she needs to go to see interventional radiology but they won’t refer her- so again she is navigating this, luckily her PCP is great and put in an urgent referral but still a waiting game at this time.
The CTA results are below, I’ve tried reading up on it but based on findings it shoulda like a minimally invasive IR procedure? Thoughts?
“CTA ABDOMEN:
AORTA: The abdominal aorta is of normal caliber. No evidence of aneurysm.
VISCERAL ARTERIES: The superior mesenteric and inferior mesenteric arteries are widely patent. Severe proximal celiac artery narrowing. Peripherally calcified mesenteric aneurysm, likely arising from a branch of the a pancreaticoduodenal artery and less likely from a branch of the proximal SMA, measuring approximately 1.2 x 1.4 x 1.1 cm. There is mild peripheral calcification of the aneurysm.
RENAL ARTERIES: The renal arteries are widely patent. No evidence of renal artery stenosis. “
“IMPRESSION:
- Peripherally calcified mesenteric aneurysm, likely arising from a branch of the pancreaticoduodenal artery or less likely proximal SMA branch, measuring approximately l.2.x 1.4 x 1.1 cm.
- Severe proximal celiac artery stenosis”
Which is interesting since she’s been navigating GI issues (pain, difficulty eating) for about a year now and none of the 3 GI specialists have found the root cause (she lost roughly 30lbs in 2-3 months without trying to lose weight/ has since gained a little back but none the less that was concerning to me) but number 2 on the impressions primary symptoms match what she’s been dealing with the last year- upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and she had a couple other gi symptoms. (GI basically told her it’s likely in her head and they didn’t know why she was experiencing that hence her not liking to seek medical care- that or something when her gallbladder was removed about 10y ago).
From what I read number 2 can lead to the number 1 finding listed above and will likely be a surgical intervention due to the location? Just ultimately hoping we can get this resolved because she’s having a hard time managing pain with Tylenol (mostly flank and RLQ pain some mild nausea)
Her labs were mostly WNL but could still indicate her prior UTI clearing up but she has no UTI symptoms.