Popliteal artery pseudoaneurysm caused by osteochondroma.

A 49-year-old man with asymptomatic osteochondroma was found to have a pseudoaneurysm of the left popliteal artery. An angiography showed a popliteal artery pseudoaneurysm adjacent to a femoral osteochondroma. The osteochondroma was excised and the popliteal artery containing the tear was also excised by end-to-end anastomosis. Vascular complication of osteochondroma is extremely rare. Paul reported the first case of a popliteal artery pseudoaneurysm due to osteochondroma in 1953. A computerized literature search revealed 40 additional cases reported in English, providing sufficient detail to allow comparison. The average age of the patients was 22.6 years (range 9-51) and most cases identified involved males (30 of 41, 73%). Most pseudoaneurysm were located in the popliteal artery. This report discusses the authors' experience with this disorder and a review of the literature in English.