Iatrogenic false aneurysms. A rare complication of hip surgery.

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of arterial false aneurysms following hip surgery diagnosed and treated in our hospital between January 1995 and January 2010. We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients undergoing hip surgery (osteosynthesis, hemiarthroplasty, total arthroplasty, or revision arthroplasty) under our care. To determine the incidence of arterial false aneurysm, we identified patients with abnormal bleeding through the surgical wound postoperatively. Out of the 11,839 patients undergoing hip surgery during the study period, 321 had abnormal bleeding that aroused suspicion of an associated vascular lesion. Among these, the presence of a false aneurysm requiring specific treatment was confirmed in eight patients. False aneurysms are a rare and occasionally severe complication of hip surgery that typically manifest with significant haemorrhage during the postoperative period. The management of these lesions by interventional radiology is associated with few complications and permits rapid patient stabilisation and early recovery, avoiding more aggressive and sometimes fruitless surgical exploration.

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.

Genomic, serologic, and clinical case-control study of Chlamydia pneumoniae and peripheral artery occlusive disease.

OBJECTIVES: Chlamydia pneumoniae has been related to atherosclerotic disease in both seroepidemiologic and genomic studies. We performed a case-control study to determine seropositivity and DNA detection in arteries of patients with peripheral artery occlusive disease and of healthy subjects. METHODS: The study included 64 patients with peripheral artery occlusive disease, and 50 control subjects who underwent varicose vein surgery, matched to the patient group for age, sex, and tobacco use. The fibrinogen level in all study subjects was measured as a marker of inflammation. Blood samples were taken from all subjects for determination of immunoglobulin (Ig) G elementary bodies (EB) against C pneumoniae with microimmunofluorescence (MIF) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and of IgA EB with ELISA. The cutoff titers were 1:32 for MIF and 1.1 for ELISA. Biopsy specimens of arterial atheromatous plaque were obtained from patients, and of pudendal artery and saphenous vein from control subjects, and were studied with hemi-nested polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: There were no differences in fibrinogen level between patients and controls. The prevalence of IgG anti-EB with MIF was 78% in patients and 24% in control subjects (P =.0001; odds ratio [OR], 11.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.7-27.2). Prevalence of IgG anti-EB with ELISA was 75% in patients and 16% in control subjects (P =.0001; OR, 15.7; 95% CI, 6.1-40). There were no differences in IgA anti-EB titers. Bacterial DNA was detected in 67% of atheromatous plaques versus 12% of pudendal arteries (P =.0001) and 4% of saphenous veins. A weak correlation was found between seropositivity and the presence of intravascular DNA. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis that C pneumoniae is related to the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic peripheral artery occlusive disease. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study explored the infectious hypothesis in the context of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This hypothesis has been supported by findings that certain infectious agents can cause or accelerate the course of diseases in which the possibility of a microbial cause was not previously proposed, as in the case of peptic ulcer and spongiform encephalopathy. The present study demonstrated the presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae and seropositivity in atheromatous plaques in patients with peripheral artery occlusive disease. These results contribute to a body of research that is opening up the possibility of treating atherosclerotic disease with antibiotic agents, and preventing it with immunization.