Rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm in a patient with a situs inversus totalis: report of a case.

An 80-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of severe abdominal and back pain. Computed tomography (CT) showed an 8.5 x 7.0-cm infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with a large contained retroperitoneal hematoma. Known situs inversus totalis was reconfirmed by CT. Just after the CT examination, the patient collapsed and was immediately taken to the operating room. Her hemodynamics stabilized after clamping of the descending aorta via a right anterolateral thoracotomy. A resection of the abdominal aneurysm and prosthetic graft replacement were successfully performed. To our knowledge, there has been no other report of a ruptured AAA in a patient with situs inversus totalis.