Background: Spontaneous dissections of visceral arteries are rare and usually secondary to other disease. There is paucity of information about their natural course.
Aim: To describe the imaging, clinical characteristics and follow-up of spontaneous visceral artery dissections diagnosed at our institution.
Material and methods: We report a series of 14 patients in whom a spontaneous dissection of a visceral artery was diagnosed on abdominal angio-CT between 2010 and 2018. Clinical features and evolution were recorded.
Results: Isolated lesions of the celiac axis were the most common finding. Multiple territories were involved in 14% of cases. A dissection flap was observed in four cases, a hematoma-dissection complex in seven and an aneurysmal dilatation associated with the dissection in three. Of the 10 patients who were followed at our institution, 90% had stabilization or partial regression of the imaging findings. In the remaining case, new dissection events were observed. All cases were managed conservatively, and no death was reported.
Conclusions: In this series of patients, spontaneous dissection of visceral arteries had a benign, favorable course, requiring only conservative management.