Femoral non-infected anastomotic pseudoaneurysm. Clinical contribution]

The femoral region is the most common site of development of anastomotic pseudoaneurysms that represent a relatively frequent complication of reconstructive vascular surgery. Clinical examination alone generally is sufficient to diagnose these lesions because they usually appear as a pulsatile inguinal mass not accompanied by pain. Echography and angiodynography permit a better evaluation of size and blood flow. CT is useful to evaluate proximal aortic anastomosis specially in pseudoaneurysms with septic pathogenesis. Rupture or thrombosis are rare clinical presentations. Vascular reconstructive surgery is always suggested in this sort of pathology. In this paper the Authors report the clinical experience acquired from 1980 to 1990 in the General and Cardiovascular Surgery Department of the University of Milan (Head: Prof. Ugo Ruberti) is 34 cases of femoral anastomotic aseptic pseudoaneurysms, analyzing the pathogenesis of this sort of lesion, describing the surgical solutions adopted and reporting the immediate and late results.