Resolved question:
I'm 28 years old and I have tears in both iliac arteries in my groin area. It started with a ripped blood vessel in my right leg about a week ago. After having pain in my left groin and noticing lack of energy in my legs the doctors discovered two tears in my right iliac and three in my left. They are planning on putting stints in on Friday but they still can't tell me why this is happening? Has anyone ever heard of this in a young male? I'm 6 ft 2, white male 212 lbs and I lead an active life. I was looking for a second opinion
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Hello, Thank you for asking your query. I am sorry to hear about your medical problem, and I will try my best to help you out here. From your description of the problem I understand that your condition is a multiple iliac artery tear or dissection. What causes these kind of tear in the arteries is not well understood. In our experience Iliac artery tear has occurred in patients who has undergone spine surgery as a complication. But even then multiple tear has not been reported with us. There are certain pre disposing conditions which can cause this tear. - You do not have any history of surgery or trauma, and there are multiple tears/dissection. This suggests the possibility of a preexisting condition which can weaken the vessel wall and cause tears even with trivial trauma. The possibilities that should be considered are Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (especially type 4), Marfan's syndrome, Fibromuscualr dysplasia, pseudoxanthoma elasticum, Polycystic kidney disease. I am sure your Doctor will do the evaluation to find out the cause, but this is not a priority now. Please be aware a cause might not be found in upto 70% of the cases. The cause behind the dissection will not influence the treatment in any order. So your Surgeons priority will be to attend the tear and prevent it causing further damage. I wish you a good recovery following the procedure. Hope this helps. Thank you