Spontaneous isolated common femoral artery dissection during exercise: A case report

Abstract

We present the case of a patient with spontaneous isolated common femoral artery (CFA) dissection (SICFAD). A 62-year-old woman was referred to our department with intermittent claudication a few days after experiencing tightness and weakness in the right leg while exercising at the gym. Ankle-brachial index was 0.68 on the right side. Ultrasonography and computed tomography angiography showed localized dissection in the right CFA. Endarterectomy with patch angioplasty was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 5. We speculate that chronic repetition of both mechanical stretching of the intima in the posterior wall of the CFA in hip flexion during exercise and high wall shear stress at the same site may have represented major contributors to SICFAD in this case. Spontaneous dissection limited to the CFA has not been reported previously.

Keywords

• Dissection
• Common femoral artery
• Endarterectomy
• Endofibrosis
• Wall shear stress
• Exercise