Endovascular stent-grafting for infected iliac artery pseudoaneurysms

We report two cases of acutely infected pseudoaneurysms of the iliac arteries, successfully treated with endovascular stent-grafting. Two patients underwent stent-graft treatment for erosive rupture of the iliac artery caused by surrounding infection. The first case is that of a 61-year-old man who had undergone Miles' operation for an advanced rectal cancer. Postoperatively, he developed intrapelvic abscess formation, from which methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was cultured, followed by rupture of the right external iliac artery. The second case is that of a 60-year-old man who had a pseudoaneurysm of the left common iliac artery, which was contiguous with a left psoas muscle abscess, from which Streptococcus agalactiae was cultured. Both patients were successfully treated with only a stent-graft and antibiotic therapy, and remained symptom-free 12 months and 10 months later. Although endovascular stent-grafting should not be considered standard therapy for infected aneurysms, our cases suggest that it can result in repair of infected aneurysms even in the uncontrolled active stage.