Spontaneous Active Bleeding in Thoracoacromial Artery Diagnoses by Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound – a Case Report

Acute arterial bleeding can often result in severe blood loss and life-threatening shock. Therefore, it is mandatory to rapidly diagnose the bleeding and assess its severity to plan the appropriate therapeutic strategy. Internal bleeding often results from injuries caused by trauma or interventional procedures such as biopsy needle puncture or percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (Hong-Ping S et al. J Ultrasound Med 2009; 28: 955 – 958; Matono T et al. Hepatology 2012; 2: 649 – 650). However, some patients can present spontaneous active bleeding. Anticoagulant therapy increases the risk of both traumatic and spontaneous bleeding, in particular in elderly patients.

We report a case of a patient with non-traumatic subclavicular hematoma and acute anemia, in which contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) enabled to detect spontaneous active bleeding from right thoracoacromial artery.