Fracture of a covered stent used for pseudoaneurysm exclusion in a prosthetic femoro-infrapopliteal bypass.
OBJECTIVE
To present a case of fracture in a stent-graft used for exclusion of a pseudoaneurysm in a prosthetic femoro-infrapopliteal bypass.


METHODS
A Hemobahn stent-graft was inserted into a Dacron femoro-infrapopliteal bypass to avoid repeat surgery for a recurrent distal anastomotic pseudoaneurysm that had been excluded 2 years earlier by a Dacron interposition graft in a 69-year-old woman. Three months after stent-graft implantation, the patient complained of pain around the left knee; plain radiography showed stent fractures at 2 sites coinciding with the proximal and distal anastomoses of the interposition graft, and ultrasonography detected a new pseudoaneurysm at the distal anastomosis. The stent-graft was explanted and the pseudoaneurysm excluded with a new interposition graft.


CONCLUSIONS
Although some stents have high flexibility and radial strength that make them suitable for use in periarticular vessels, interventionists should take into account the possibility of stent fracture when weighing the treatment options.
Koelemay
Mark J W
MJ
Department of Vascular Surgery, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.j.koelemaij@amc.uva.nl
Rijcken
Tammo H Pels
TH
D000368:Aged; D017541:Aneurysm, False / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D020878:Device Removal; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation; D015607:Stents; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D017211:Treatment Failure