An uncomplicated atherosclerotic abdominal aortic aneurysm in a seventy-one-year-old woman was found to have increased substantially in size. Abdominal computed tomog raphy (CT) demonstrated an abdominal aortic aneurysm with a thick mantle of material having the density of soft tissue abutting its anterior and lateral walls and hydronephrosis of the right kidney due to an encased ureter. Low-dose corticosteroid therapy was given for forty days. On subsequent CT scanning, most of the thick soft- tissue mass surrounding the dilatated aorta and the hydronephrosis had disappeared, which simplified the surgical repair that was then performed. Pathologic examination of the mass showed inflammatory tissue.
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