Although splenic artery aneurysms (SAAs) are the most common visceral aneurysms, giant SAAs >10 cm in diameter have rarely been reported. We present the case of a 67-year-old asymptomatic man who was diagnosed with a 15-cm SAA in the absence of a clear etiologic factor. The patient underwent open surgical repair. A medial visceral rotation was performed to gain good vascular control and subsequently the aneurysm was ligated from within. A systematic review was carried out, allowing us to analyze 12 cases of giant SAAs >10 cm published to date. The difference in terms of demographics, clinical presentation, and arterial location between the giant SAA group and usual SAAs may indicate a different underlying physiopathology that remains unclear at this time.

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Over the last years, the proportion of patients older than 80 years with end-stage renal disease has been constantly growing. Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is known as the best vascular access for hemodialysis, but evidence for its added value is lacking for elderly. We retrospectively identified new vascular access (AVF and central venous catheter) created or installed between June 2005 and June 2008 in patients 80 years and older and in patients between 50 and 60 years. For every new AVF, we calculated primary failure, primary and secondary patency durations. Fifty-five and 57 patients had a new vascular access in the >80 years old and 50 to 60 years old groups. Among these, 25 and 41 were new AVF in the older and younger groups. Primary failure was more frequent in elderly than in the younger (40% vs. 17%, P=0.04). Primary patency was not significantly different in both groups (P=0.06). Secondary patency was shorter in elderly (P=0.005). Among the older group, the presence of an AVF was not associated with a difference in mortality (46% vs. 60%, P=0.28), whereas there was a lower mortality in the younger group with AVF (12% vs. 43% P=0.008). These results indicate lower patency duration in very elderly patients compared to middle-aged patients. Without leading to the exclusion of patients over 80 years old for AVF creation, it might reinforce the need of a careful selection and evaluation in this population prior to referral.