Pseudoaneurysm of the popliteal artery in a patient with Type VI Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Abstract

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a rare inherited connective tissue disease arising from an abnormality of collagen synthesis. The main feature of EDS is the extreme fragility of connective tissues, which can result in uterine rupture, spontaneous intestinal drilling and vascular diseases such as aneurysms, pseudoaneurysms, arterial dissections and spontaneous ruptures. This paper describes the case of an 11-year-old patient who presented a pulsatile mass in the left popliteal fossa after a minor trauma caused by a soccer ball. A pseudoaneurysm of the popliteal artery was diagnosed with arterial Doppler ultrasound and confirmed using angiography. An exploratory investigation revealed that the artery wall was too weak to allow reconstruction and the proximal artery was ligated. The patient developed severe limb ischemia and after authorization by the family the limb was amputated. Two days after surgery, the patient died as a result of acute thoracic aortic dissection.

Keywords:
pseudoaneurysm; popliteal artery; Ehlers-Danlos syndrome