Morphogenic Considerations on Popliteal Entrapment Syndrome. A New Classification?

Abstract

Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome may result from anomalous positioning of the popliteal artery itself or from abnormal attachments of the medial head of the gastroc nemius muscle. Other popliteal fossa muscles or anatomic structures may be implicated. The authors present 3 cases of this syndrome, describing symptomatology, angiographic patterns, and surgical management, and discuss the anatomic findings from the basis of a dysmorphogenic embryologic development, proposing a new classification: entrapment derived from arterial development anomalies (type I) and entrapment derived from alter ations during the medial gastrocnemius migration (type II), which can explain some findings not easily classified previously