Abstract
Venous aneurysm (VA) is a rare vascular lesion. The authors have experi enced 2 cases of VA: a seventy-year-old woman who had a 4 x 4 cm VA at the elbow and a forty-five-year-old woman who had a 1.5 x 1 cm VA in the long saphenous vein. In the second case, intraaneurysmal observation was per formed by angioendoscopy during surgery. Histologic examination of the re sected lesion proved that the basic structure of the venous wall was preserved in both cases, although a marked reduction in each component of wall was ob served.
The authors reviewed the reported cases of VA and classified them into type I VA (cystic ectasia) and type II VA (fusiform ectasia). Type I VA is predominant in extremities and internal organs, while type II VA predominates in the cervical region. Their analysis of the reported cases indicated that although VA and varicose veins are both venous ectasias, VA is distinguishable from varicose veins by the following features: no sex difference, occurrence even in children, occurrence anywhere in the body, occurrence as a single lesion, and lack of prolongation of the vein.
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