Renal artery aneurysm: case report of a ruptured calcified renal artery aneurysm.

Renal artery aneurysms constitute one per cent of all aneurysms. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a calcified saccular arteriosclerotic renal artery aneurysm rupturing. Because the patient was in hemorrhagic shock, nephrectomy was performed. The postoperative course was complicated by acute renal failure, pneumonia, and small-bowel fistula, which responded to hemodialysis, antibiotics, and central hyperalimentation, respectively. This case and review of the literature emphasizes the need for elective revascularization of renal artery aneurysms by primary repair or bypass graft, rather than performing an emergency nephrectomy.