The aorta, like other large elastic arteries, is remarkably resistant to infection.1 The resistance to infection is impaired in the presence of vascular anomalies2 and other arterial lesions such as atherosclerosis,3 cystic medionecrosis,4 and syphilitic arteritis.5 There are 21 reports available in the literature3,5-22 in Salmonella infection occurred in patients with arteriosclerotic abdominal aortic aneurysm. In most cases the infections occurred in old debilitated patients with the diagnosis usually being made during surgery or at autopsy.
Zak et al5 have emphasized the importance of recognizing this entity in patients known to have arterial aneurysms and subsequently develop Salmonella infections, as well as in patients with salmonellosis who die in shock.
This report describes a case of Salmonella infection associated with rupture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm, reviews the literature, and discusses the pathophysiology of the disease. Fluorescent antibody techniques were successfully employed to