Bilateral brachial artery fibromuscular dysplasia

Fibromuscular dysplasia is a nonatherosclerotic, noninflammatory vascular disease that usually involves medium- and small-sized arteries. It is most commonly observed in the renal, carotid, and intracerebral arteries, although it has been reported in other arterial beds. The most common form is characterized by medial fibrosis, with or without smooth muscle cell hyperplasia, which can result in luminal narrowing and turbulent flow. There is often a secondary aneurysmal degeneration of the artery, which may or may not be associated with thrombosis or obstruction of flow. This accounts for the typical "string-of-beads" appearance seen on arteriography. We describe a patient who presented with ischemia of the right hand secondary to fibromuscular dysplasia of the brachial artery. Subsequent studies also demonstrated fibromuscular dysplasia in the other brachial artery as well as mild involvement of the right renal artery. The patient was treated on the symptomatic side with dilatation of proximal lesions, resection of the thrombosed segment, and reconstruction with a reversed saphenous vein graft. Distal pulses were fully restored postoperatively. Pathologic examination confirmed the arteriographic and clinical diagnosis of fibromuscular dysplasia. The salient features of this case are reviewed in addition to the other cases reported in the literature.