Pseudoaneurysm

Sudden pain and a pulsatile swelling of the right upper medial thigh concerned an 80-year-old woman (A). Coronary angioplasty had been performed through this site 5 weeks earlier.

An ultrasonogram revealed a 2-cm pseudoaneurysm of the right common femoral artery.

Robert P. Blereau, MD of Morgan City, La, compares a true aneurysm-a dilatation of the arterial wall-with a pseudoaneurysm, or a blowout of the arterial needle puncture site that results in perivascular blood collection. The blood is contained only by surrounding soft tissue, not by a blood vessel wall. A pseudoaneurysm may occur as a complication of any arterial puncture.

A cardiovascular surgeon repaired the defect within hours of the onset of pain. Recovery was uneventful; there has been no recurrence.