Abstract
We report a rare case of adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery causing intermittent claudication. About one month previously, the patient, a 48-year-old man, had sudden intermittent claudication in the right leg. In May 2007, he was examined and admitted to our hospital. He had a cold sensation in the right leg and no pulse in the leg was palpable below the right popliteal artery. The right and left ankle brachial pressure indexes (ABI) were 0.49 and 1.14, respectively. Angiography demonstrated smooth, localized narrowing in the right popliteal artery above the knee and computed tomography demonstrated occlusion of the artery external to the vessel. From the above, we made a diagnosis of adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery and performed arteriectomy of the right popliteal artery above the knee using a posterior approach, followed by a revascularization procedure using the great saphenous vein. Among the surgical findings, there was compression of the artery lumen due to a cyst which subadventitially contained jelly-like material. Postoperatively, the right ABI improved to 0.89.
