Bilateral Spontaneous and Isolated Dissection of the External Iliac Arteries: Report of A Case

Spontaneous dissection of the external iliac artery without involvement of the aorta is extremely rare, especially, if bilateral. We report a case of a 41 year-old man complaining of sudden onset left lower limb and groin pain. Digital subtraction angiography showed dissection of both external iliac arteries. Patient was initially managed with medical treatment consisting of heparin and ß blocker. One week later his symptoms worsened. Endovascular treatment was not deemed appropriate since the dissection involved long segments of both arteries. The patient underwent aortobifemoral bypass by using a Dacron Y graft and remained free of symptoms with good distal pulses 2 months after surgery. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second reported case of bilateral and spontaneous external iliac artery dissection. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.