Giant external-iliac-vein aneurysm secondary to traumatic arteriovenous fistula : a case report

Abdominal venous aneurysms (VA) are rare. Over the past 90 years, sporadic cases of aneurysms of the superficial and deep venous systems have been reported in the world literature1. The external iliac vein is an infrequent site of those aneurysms2. The first case, reported by Hurwitz and Gelabert1 in 1989, was a thrombosed common and external-iliac-vein aneurysm. The leading causes of iliac VA are arteriovenous fistulas, which are usually secondary to trauma (43%), venous outflow obstruction (17%) and primary aneurysms (35%)3,4. Symptoms of aneurysms result from the compression of pelvic structures, local thrombosis, thromboembolism and aneurysm rupture2. Unlike arterial aneurysms, few review articles on iliac VA can be found in the literature, so very little is known about their natural history and treatment1,5. The aim of this paper was to describe the management and repair of a large external-iliac-vein aneurysm, secondary to an acquired arteriovenous fistula (AVF).