Open versus endovascular repair of popliteal artery aneurysms.

A 72-year-old male presents with a large asymptomatic aneurysm of his left popliteal artery. He has a history of noninsulin dependent diabetes, hypertension, and a prior history of a percutaneous intervention for a coronary artery stenosis. He is anatomically and physiologically a candidate for surgical or endovascular repair of his aneurysm. The following debate attempts to resolve whether open repair remains the gold standard for the treatment of popliteal artery aneurysms. Copyright 2010 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.