Fibromuscular disease of the brachial artery with digital emboli treated effectively by transluminal angioplasty.

We present a 45-year-old male with fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) of the left brachial artery causing microemboli with digital ischemia. The angiographic diagnosis was medial fibroplasia. Treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), the corrugated arterial wall was made smooth and production of new thrombi apparently stopped, as 3.5 years after PTA the patient has had no recurrence. Although FMD of the brachial artery is rarely encountered, PTA seems to be an effective treatment as an alternative to surgical interposition grafting.