[Trapped popliteal artery. Early diagnosis by dynamic tests during arteriography (author's transl)]

An extrinsic functional stenosis was detected in the contralateral popliteal artery during follow-up arteriography in a patient operated upon for a thrombosed trapped popliteal artery. The value of dynamic tests of plantar flexion against resistance with the knee extended, in a conscious patient, is stressed. A recently available contrast medium enables arteriography of the lower limbs to be conducted without a general anaesthetic. Since writing this report, the authors have explored a type II bilateral form of trapped popliteal artery in a 35-year-old man, in whom the diagnosis was determined mainly from dynamic films.