Spontaneous Delayed Closure Of Postangiographic Femoral Artery Aneurysms

Abstract

To the Editor.— Recently I have seen two similar cases that are thought to be instructive. The first is in a 51-year-old man with hypertension (blood pressure, 220/150 mm Hg) who had a transfemoral abdominal aortogram with a 7F Teflon catheter. The procedure went smoothly, total catheter time being less than 30 minutes. Small amounts of heparinized saline were used as a flushing solution. A small hematoma was present following the procedure. Two days later, he had sudden recurrence of bleeding and a large hematoma appeared. Two weeks later, a 4-cm aneurysm was palpated and a loud bruit was heard over the puncture site. However, at the time of admission for surgery, six weeks after arterial puncture, aneurysm and bruit had disappeared, leaving only a small lump of scar tissue. The second patient is a 68-year-old male hypertensive (blood pressure, 190/100 mm Hg) who had a transfemoral arch aortogram to