Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2019 Mar 7;12(3):e228312.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2018-228312.

Curious case of a true aneurysm of the lateral femoral circumflex artery: a rare but important differential in the diagnosis of a painless groin mass

Joe Hwong Pang  1 , Ahmed Elbasty  2 , Felicity J Meyer  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Curious case of a true aneurysm of the lateral femoral circumflex artery: a rare but important differential in the diagnosis of a painless groin mass

Joe Hwong Pang et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

A 60-year-old man, presented with a 3-month history of a painless, non-pulsatile firm mass in the left groin. He was referred to sarcoma clinic for a biopsy following MRI and B mode ultrasound (US). This was abandoned when colour flow US imaging revealed the mass more in keeping with a pseudoaneurysm rather than malignancy. He was then referred to the vascular team for further investigation, where CT angiography revealed a large and thrombosed true aneurysm of his left femoral circumflex artery. This was treated with open surgical repair. Technical challenges included an adherent femoral nerve, which was carefully dissected off the aneurysm before the aneurysm was ligated and resected. An uneventful recovery followed with discharge within 48 hours. Follow-up duplex US scan revealed patent arteries with no further abnormalities.

Keywords: surgery; vascular surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

figure 1
figure 1
Initial MRI transverse image of the aneurysm. The lesion itself demonstrates densities similar to that of the surround soft tissue rather than that of an aneurysm. CFA, common femoral artery.
figure 2
figure 2
CT angiography coronal image of the aneurysm with surrounding vessels. The common femoral artery (CFA) and superficial femoral artery (SFA) can be visualised in this image and both of which show some atherosclerotic disease however are generally patent. PFA, profunda femoris artery.
figure 3
figure 3
CT angiography transverse image of the aneurysm. The close relation of the common femoral artery (CFA) and profunda femoris artery (PFA) can be appreciated here alone with the aneurysm’s outflow.
figure 4
figure 4
Intraoperative image during aneurysm repair. The common femoral artery (CFA), superficial femoral artery (SFA) and profunda femoris artery arteries are slung along with aneurysm inflow and outflow.
figure 5
figure 5
Intraoperative image post aneurysm repair. Inflow and outflow ligated with 5–0 prolene. CFA, common femoral artery; PFA, profunda femoris artery; SFA, superficial femoral artery.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wiest JW, Mukherjee D, Inahara T, et al. . Ruptured aneurysm of the profunda femoris artery. J Vasc Surg 1986;4:406–9. 10.1016/0741-5214(86)90239-9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Squire A, Miller CM, Horowitz SF, et al. . Femoral pseudoaneurysm following nonpenetrating trauma in a patient with aortic insufficiency. Am J Med 1985;78:719–20. 10.1016/0002-9343(85)90422-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lindfors O, Paukku P, Tötterman S. A false aneurysm of the deep femoral artery. Acta Chir Scand 1982;148:201–2. - PubMed
    1. Engelman RM, Clements JM, Herrmann JB. Stab wounds and traumatic false aneurysms in the extremities. J Trauma 1969;9:77–87. 10.1097/00005373-196901000-00008 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lancashire MJ, Galland RB. Aneurysm of lateral circumflex femoral artery in association with multiple atherosclerotic aneurysms. Ann Vasc Surg 1992;6:289–91. 10.1007/BF02000276 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types