Late Complication after Superficial Femoral Artery (SFA) Aneurysm: Stent-graft Expulsion Outside the Skin

Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2015 Oct;38(5):1299-302. doi: 10.1007/s00270-014-0970-6. Epub 2014 Aug 26.

Abstract

A 78-year-old man presented with a 7-cm aneurysm in the left superficial femoral artery, which was considered unfit and anatomically unsuitable for conventional open surgery for multiple comorbidities. The patient was treated with stent-graft [Viabhan stent-graft (WL Gore and Associates, Flagstaff, AZ)]. Two years from stent-graft implantation, the patient presented a purulent secretion and a spontaneous external expulsion through a fistulous channel. No claudication symptoms or hemorrhagic signs were present. The pus and device cultures were positive for Staphylococcus aureus sensitive to piperacillin/tazobactam. Patient management consisted of fistula drainage, systemic antibiotic therapy, and daily wound dressing. At 1-month follow-up, the wound was closed. To our knowledge, this is the first case of this type of stent-graft complication presenting with external expulsion.

Keywords: Aneurysm; Endovascular; Infection; Stent-graft; Superficial femoral artery.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aneurysm / complications
  • Aneurysm / surgery*
  • Femoral Artery / surgery*
  • Graft Occlusion, Vascular / surgery*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prosthesis Failure*
  • Staphylococcal Infections / complications*
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • Stents*