Aneurysm of the femoral artery
In the arteria femoralis superficialis and profunda, an aneurysm can occur after injury to the intima of the vessel wall, i.e. the innermost layer. This leads to an aneurysm of the vessel wall. In a certain form of aneurysm, the parts of the vessel wall, intima and media, become detached from each other due to an ever more proliferating bleeding.
The bleeding can lead to a false second vascular opening, a so-called pseudo volume, within the vessel wall. At the same time, the normal lumen of the artery is constricted. Aneurysms can be congenital or acquired and are usually asymptomatic in their early stages, so that they can only be discovered by chance.
Possible consequences of aneurysms are on the one hand blood clots that can form on the defective vessel wall and thus lead to a further constriction of the vessel, or on the other hand they can be transported further into vessels located further out and cause a complete occlusion. On the other hand, there is a risk of rupture of the aneurysm, i.e. rupture of the aneurysm’s sacculation, with possibly dangerous bleeding. Depending on the condition of the aneurysm at the time of diagnosis, surgical intervention may also be the therapy of choice here.
All articles in this series: