Ruptured mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Abdominal pain, a common condition, has been reported in up to 37|X% of-patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (1). There are many possible causes including peritonitis, pancreatitis, mesenteric vasculitis, thrombosis of the mesenteric vessels, intra-abdominal infections, or side effects of the medications used in the treatment of the disease, especially non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (1-3). However, ruptured mycotic aneurysm of the abdominal aorta has rarely been mentioned as a cause of abdominal pain in SLE (1-3). We recently saw a patient with SLE who had an acute surgical abdomen, which proved to have been caused by a rupture of a mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm.