Aneurysmal arterial disease in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Case report and literature review.

Multiple aneurysmal lesions and dissections of the right femoral artery in a young man with type IV Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are presented. Type IV results in a high incidence of vascular lesions-extreme fragility of arteries is associated with multiple aneurysm formation and spontaneous rupture and dissection of arteries. Surgical management of patients with this disorder is hazardous and often unrewarding. The successful surgical treatment of an acutely thrombosed aneurysmal femoral artery by means of an interposition graft, is presented and brief guidelines for the treatment and prevention of vascular complications are discussed.