Fistula between the abdominal aorta and a retroaortic left renal vein: a rare complication of abdominal aortic aneurysm

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0100-3984.2016.0083 Because of the high risk of massive systemic embolization, it is considered necessary to treat a free-floating thrombus in the aortic arch. However, the ideal treatment remains undefined. Although the use of a thrombolytic is considered one of the options, it carries the risk of selective lysis of the pedicle of the lesion, which would have catastrophic results. In selected patients, surgical treatment is thought to be the most acceptable option. The purpose of this report was to describe a rare case of floating thrombus in the aortic arch with systemic embolization. In the case reported here, the thrombus was treated successfully through surgery.