The walking man with a completely occluded aorta.

Complete aortic occlusion is rare and potentially detrimental. It usually occurs in patients with advanced aorto-iliac atherosclerosis, and can cause severe ischaemic manifestations in the lower extremities, spinal cord, intestine or kidneys [1]. However, the diagnosis may evade detection since collateral vasculature can maintain a basal perfusion and prevent the expression of acute ischaemic phenomena for a long time. We describe a 69-year-old man with chronic severe aorto-iliac atherosclerotic occlusive disease, who was referred to us late, only after complete suprarenal aortic occlusion had caused acute anuria. This delay limited therapeutic options and aggravated his prognosis.