[Aneurysm of the popliteal vein]

Aneurysms of the popliteal vein are rare. They often seem to be favored by parietal dysplasia, but this is not a consistent finding. From a clinical viewpoint, the lesion is often asymptomatic. It may be detected fortuitously through the occurrence of a popliteal mass. In more severe cases, pulmonary emboli originating at the aneurysmal site will occur. As a rule, diagnosis is based on results from investigations such as phlebography and, more recently, echography which is bound to have a more important role in this field. Management must take the patient's history and background into account, depending upon which treatment will consist of either mere surveillance of asymptomatic patients, or resection possibly followed by restoration of venous circulation--placement of a caval block being restricted to very particular cases.