Becoming the Standard: Expanding the Conventional Use of Interventional Embolization for Ruptured Pulmonary Artery Aneurysms

Behcet’s disease is inflammatory vasculitis that has a high incidence of mortality in patients with pulmonary artery aneurysm (PAA) formation. Traditionally, patients with Behcet’s disease and PAA rupture undergo invasive surgical management. Surgical intervention; however, has been shown to have high complication, failure, and mortality rates. It has become a more contemporary practice to utilize the interventional embolization of pulmonary artery aneurysms (PAAs) in patients with Behcet’s disease and other various etiologies because of its inherent minimally invasive nature and decreased risk for complications. The management paradigm for treating PAAs has shifted toward endovascular embolization even in severe or emergent cases where surgical management was once thought to be the standard. The following case is a testimony to the practicality of interventional embolization in the setting of a symptomatic patient presenting with PAAs.