Mediastinal Bronchial Artery Aneurysm Resected together with the Descending Aorta under the Partial Extracorporeal Circulation;Report of a Case

Bronchial artery aneurysm(BAA) is quite rare, but its rupture is often lethal. Once it is found, treatments should be aggressively considered. A 67-year-old woman was diagnosed to have a 26 mm mediastinal BAA on computed tomography (CT) which was performed for screening. CT revealed a very short inflow vessel of the BAA and arteriovenous fistula at the outflow. Considering these features of the aneurysm, endovascular interventions deemed difficult and surgery was carried out. Because of the fragility, the aneurysm was resected together with the descending aorta and the graft replacement was performed under partial extracorporeal circulation. The patient has no untoward event for 1 year postoperatively. Although most recent reports advocate endovascular interventions, we think surgical treatment is a variable option in selected patients. Careful evaluation for each BAA case would be essential to determine the treatment strategy.