Hepatic artery aneurysm developing after Billroth's operation.

In this report we review the unusual case of a patient with a common hepatic artery aneurysm presenting 30 years after a Billroth's II resection. A 65-year-old man with epigastric pain and 10 kg of weight loss in the previous 6 months was referred to our clinic. Computed tomography revealed the presence of an aneurysm of the common hepatic artery (HAA) of 35 mm. This HAA was surgically excluded by aneurysmectomy and prosthetic bypass. Intraoperatively we observed extensive peritoneal adhesions and connective tissue formation in the region of the hepatoduodenal and hepatogastric ligaments, and the outer wall of the HAA was tightly affixed to the root of the transverse mesocolon by connective adhesions. Retraction of the adhesions slowly brought about a continued stretching and thinning of the arterial wall likely caused the HAA.