Successful treatment of a pseudoaneurysm of the cystic artery with microcoil embolization.

Pseudoaneurysms of visceral arteries are uncommon but well-characterized vascular abnormalities, usually provoked by intraabdominal inflammatory processes such as pancreatitis or cholecystitis, or by surgical trauma. However, pseudoaneurysms of the cystic artery are rare. They complicate cholecystitis or cholecystectomy, and manifest as hemobilia as they rupture into the biliary tree. The advent of transcatheter embolization techniques has begun to allow minimally invasive treatment of these life-threatening complications. Transcatheter embolization can be performed using several types of material, such as synthetic occlusive emulsions, gelatin sponges or other particles, or metallic microcoils. Microcoils are small metallic helical particles, made of stainless-steel, platinum, or tungsten. Super-selective catheterization of an artery and release of microcoils causes the vessel to thrombose and allows control of bleeding.