Spontaneous intraabdominal haemorrhage caused by segmental mediolytic arteritis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus--an underestimated entity of autoimmune origin?

We describe the sixth known case of segmental mediolytic arteritis and the third in a survivor. A 70-year-old woman had intraabdominal bleeding due to a ruptured aneurysm of the omental artery. Interestingly, this patient also had a systemic lupus erythematosus. This report gives further support to the role of immune abnormalities underlying segmental mediolytic arteritis.