A rare case of an aneurysm of the external iliac and the common femoral vein

Objective: To report a case of an external iliac - common femoral vein aneurysm and review the literature on the subject. Design: Case report. Setting: Academic Vascular Surgery and Radiology Units, St Mary's Hospital, London, UK. Patients, Interventions and Results: The aneurysm occurred in a 34-year-old woman and was diagnosed with venography, duplex scanning and magnetic resonance venography. It underwent acute thrombosis and, as the thrombus was well organized and extensive, thrombectomy was not possible, The patient was treated with standard heparin followed by oral anticoagulants for 5 months. Thirty months after the operation the right calf remains swollen but soft and non-tender and the patient is currently treated with grade II full-length compression stockings. Since there were no findings of vein compression or malignancy it seems that the formation of the aneurysm resulted from a congenital weakness of the venous wall. Conclusions: The most common presentation of these aneurysms is of a mass of the abdomen or the iliac fossa, while thromboembolism is not uncommon. The main causes are arteriovenous (AV) fistula formation and congenital weakness of the vein wall. For the first the preferred treatment is AV fistula ligation while for the rest ligation with or without vein reconstruction has been successfully used.