Intermittent claudication caused by a giant atypical lipoma of the thigh

The main cause of intermittent claudication in lower limbs is peripheral vascular disease. Less commonly, the etiology can be extrinsic to vascular structures, as in the cases of tumors that, due to their rapid growth, can reduce the blood supply and produce intermittent claudication during gait. We report the case of a 49-year-old patient with intermittent claudication in the left lower limb, reporting the presence of a tumor in the inner side of the left thigh with rapid growth. Doppler and angiography magnetic resonance imaging examinations demonstrated the presence of an adipose tumor that was producing deep and superficial extrinsic compression of the femoral arteries. (J Vasc Surg 2012;56:808-11.)