Venous aneurysms are rare lesions that may be the source of pulmonary emboli and can result in death. The authors have recently treated several patients who had venous aneurysms of the upper extremity, lower extremity, and jugular system. Venous aneurysms usually appear to have a safe natural history in these locations, although all of the reported patients required surgery after the development of symptoms owing to complaints of pain, and/or cosmetic appearance, and/or a diagnosis of thrombosis. These cases are presented, along with a review of venous aneurysms occurring at other sites and their causes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Zomboni P., Cossu A., Carpanese L., et al: The so-called primary venous aneurysms. Phlebology5:45-50, 1990.
2.
Pearce WH, Winchester DJ, Yao ST: Venous aneurysms. In: Aneurysms, New Findings and Treatments , ed. by Yao JS, Pearce WH.Norwalk, CT: Appleton & Lange, 1994, pp 379-388.
3.
Schatz IJ, Fine G.: Venous aneurysms. N Engl J Med266:1310-1312, 1962.
4.
Lev M., Saphir O.: Endophlebohypertrophy and phlebosclerosis. I. The popliteal vein. Arch Pathol51:154-178, 1951.
5.
Lev M., Saphir O.: Endophlebohypertrophy and phlebosclerosis. II. The external and common iliac veins. Am J Pathol28:401-411, 1952.
6.
Grice GD III, Smith RB III, Robinson PH, et al: Primary popliteal venous aneurysm with recurrent pulmonary emboli . J Vasc Surg12:316-318, 1990.
7.
Taira A., Akita H.: Ruptured venous aneurysm of the persistent left superior vena cava. Angiology32:656-659, 1981.
8.
Cheatle TR, Perrin M.: Primary venous aneurysms of the popliteal fossa. Phlebology8:82-85, 1993.
9.
Refson JS, Wolfe Jhn: An aneurysm of the internal jugular vein. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg11:371-372, 1996.
10.
Hughes PL, Qureshi SA, Galloway RW: Jugular venous aneurysm in children. Br J Radiol61:1082-1084, 1988.
11.
Cragg AH, Smith TP: Percutaneous ablation of a facial vein aneurysm. J Intervent Radiol4:92-94, 1989.
Van Adrichem Nph, Wiggers RH, Veen HF: Aneurysm of the popliteal vein with multiple pulmonary thrombo-emboli: A case report. Neth J Surg41:24-25, 1989.
18.
Leung JC, Coel M., Ko J., et al: Pulmonary embolism from a popliteal vein aneurysm. Clin Nucl Med18: 7-10, 1993.
19.
Helsted M., Vilmann P., Jacobsen B., et al: Popliteal venous aneurysms with or without pulmonary embolism . Eur J Vasc Surg5:333-342, 1991.
20.
Winchester D. , Pearce WH, McCarthy WJ, et al: Popliteal venous aneurysms. Surgery114:600-607, 1993.
21.
Postma MP, Mclellan GL, Northup HM, et al: Aneurysm of the internal iliac vein as a rare source of pulmonary thromboembolism. South Med J82:390-392, 1989.
22.
Terada Y., Ishii Y., Koishizawa T., et al: Venous aneurysm of the cephalic vein: Report of a case and review of the literature. J Tokyo Med Coll59:938-941, 1989.
23.
Ramadan F., Johnson G.: Primary lesser saphenous vein aneurysm in a child. J Pediatr Surg26:738-740, 1991.
24.
Spiro SA, Coccaro SF, Bogucki E.: Aneurysm of the internal jugular vein manifesting after prolonged positive pressure ventilation. Head Neck13:450-452, 1991.
25.
Thomas TV: Aneurysm of the portal vein: Report of two cases, one resulting in thrombosis and spontaneous rupture. Surgery61:550-555, 1967.
26.
Yokomise H. , Nakayama S., Aota M., et al: Systemic venous aneurysms. Ann Thorac Surg50:460-462, 1990.
27.
Sai S., Yoshida I., Itoh Y., et al: Diverticulum of the superior vena cava. Ann Thorac Surg58:890-891, 1994.
28.
Patel KR, Chan FA, Batista RJ, et al: True venous aneurysms and arterial "steal" secondary to arteriovenous fistulae for dialysis. J Cardiovasc Surg33: 185-188, 1992.
