Cystic adventitial disease of the common femoral artery.

Cystic adventitial disease consists of a collection of clear gelatinous material within an aberrant synovial-type cyst located in the subadventitial plane of the wall of a major artery. Recurrent minor trauma is presumed to potentiate mucin production and enlargement of the cyst with resultant arterial occlusion and symptoms of ischemia. It occurs most commonly in the popliteal artery in young men; forty-seven such patients have been reported on. Extrapopliteal disease is distinctly less frequent, occurring three times in the external iliac, three times in the radial, once in the ulnar, and once in the common femoral artery. Surgical therapy of choice is evacuation of the gelatinous material and abrasion of the lining of the cyst. Grafting is occasionally necessary. Long-term results are excellent and recurrence is uncommon.