Although less than 0.1% of the population experiences a popliteal aneurysm, the consequence of not treating a popliteal aneurysm goes along with a significant risk of embolization, thrombosis, and limb loss. Surgical treatment for this vascular disease has produced excellent clinical results, but there remain an increasing number of published papers that continue to question the efficacy of endovascular therapies. All consecutive patients operated on for a popliteal aneurysm at our hospital in the years between 2000 and 2007 were reviewed retrospectively for their clinical-pathological data and their applicability for endovascular treatment. Forty-six patients were surgically treated for 56 popliteal aneurysms (42x vein, 11x alloplastic material and 1x composite graft). The overall survival rates after 2 and 5 years were 77% and 54%, respectively. The reinterventionfree survival rates at 2 and 5 years were 71% and 43%, respectively. The graft patency for veins was significantly higher, with a hazard ratio of 0.025 (95% CI[0.002; 0.304], p=0,004). Twenty-two cases (59.5%) of the 37 patients with a sufficient angiography appeared to be eligible for endovascular treatment. Despite the positive results of surgical repair shown in our study and in the existing literature, endovascular treatment has a high technical eligibility with good reported outcomes and represents an alternative for open surgery.      «

Although less than 0.1% of the population experiences a popliteal aneurysm, the consequence of not treating a popliteal aneurysm goes along with a significant risk of embolization, thrombosis, and limb loss. Surgical treatment for this vascular disease has produced excellent clinical results, but there remain an increasing number of published papers that continue to question the efficacy of endovascular therapies. All consecutive patients operated on for a popliteal aneurysm at our hospital in...     »