Long-term follow-up of adventitial cyst surgical excision in external iliac vein

Adventitial Cystic Disease of the Popliteal Vein, a Rare Cause of Lower Limb Deep Vein Thrombosis

Introduction

Cystic adventitial disease (CAD) is characterised by the accumulation of gelatinous fluid within the adventitial layer of a blood vessel. Over 90% of CAD occurs in the arterial system. Venous CAD most commonly involves the iliofemoral rather than the popliteal segments.

Report

This is the report of a 49 year old female patient with a previous right leg deep vein thrombosis (DVT). She presented to a vascular outpatient appointment with recurrent right lower extremity swelling. Venous duplex ultrasound showed an ectatic and incompetent right popliteal vein. Computed tomography (CT) venography showed focal ectasia of the right popliteal vein resulting from an eccentric low density cyst with a diameter of 15 mm. Under general anaesthesia, the patient was placed in the prone position. A lazy S incision was performed in the right popliteal fossa. The popliteal vein had an eccentrically thickened lateral bulge. After heparinisation, a longitudinal venotomy, endophlebectomy, and en bloc cyst removal were performed sequentially. Popliteal patch venoplasty was performed subsequently using the ipsilateral small saphenous vein. After six months, the patient remains on rivaroxaban. A follow up venous duplex ultrasound showed vein reflux through a standard calibre popliteal vein without evidence of cyst recurrence.

Conclusion

Venous CAD is a rare disease and should be considered if previous DVT or symptoms mimicking DVT occur. Cyst resection and reconstruction with vein patch, venous or synthetic graft is the most commonly used strategy and has lower rates of cyst recurrence and need for re-operation.

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Venous cystic adventitial disease is rare.

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Adventitial vein cysts may cause oedema and vein thrombosis.

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Venous ultrasound is the first diagnostic test.

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Complete cyst wall excision is crucial to prevent recurrence.

Adventitial cystic disease of the common femoral vein: an unusual cause of lower extremity swelling and review of the literature

We report the case of a 61-year-old man who had presented with acute unilateral limb swelling. Computed tomography venography and duplex ultrasound demonstrated compression of the right common femoral vein by a common femoral vein adventitial cyst. Before intervention, the patient had developed an acute deep vein thrombosis of the right common femoral vein and great saphenous vein. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated concern for synovial connection. After 6 months of anticoagulation therapy, the patient underwent adventitial cyst excision with ligation of the hip joint articular connection. At 4 months postoperatively, the patient was symptom free without cyst recurrence. The findings from the present case support the synovial theory for adventitial cystic disease.

Long-term outcome of partial resection in venous adventitial cystic disease

Venous adventitial cystic disease is extremely rare. Therefore, standard treatment methods have not been clearly defined. Some reports suggest that complete cyst removal is an effective treatment. However, considering the relatively high recurrence rate, follow-up periods were short. Herein, we report the case of a 75-year-old man with venous adventitial cystic disease successfully treated with partial cyst wall excision. No recurrence was observed for 10 years postoperatively. This case suggests that complete cyst wall excision might not be necessary for the treatment of venous adventitial cystic disease.