doiSerbia

“Blue-toe” syndrome as a possible complication of the abdominal aortic aneurysm: A report of two cases

Popov Petar (Vascular Surgery Clinic, “Dedinje” Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade + Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade)
Tanasković Slobodan (Vascular Surgery Clinic, “Dedinje” Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade)
Sotirović Vuk (Vascular Surgery Clinic, “Dedinje” Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade)
Babić Srđan (Vascular Surgery Clinic, “Dedinje” Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade)
Nenezić Dragoslav (Vascular Surgery Clinic, “Dedinje” Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade + Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade)
Radak Đorđe (Vascular Surgery Clinic, “Dedinje” Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade + Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade)

Introduction. Severe extremity ischemia and the presence of the “blue-toe” syndrome are rarely the first complications of the present abdominal aortic aneurysm. We report two interesting cases of this rare entity. Outline of Cases. A 61-year-old man presented with the rest pain of his toes accompanied with digital ischemia of both feet. Physical examination confirmed regular arterial pulses at lower extremities accompanied with palpable pulsate mass in the abdomen. Vascular ultrasound and multidetector tomography (MDCT) of blood vessels revealed small abdominal aortic aneurysm (37 mm in diameter), filled with the irregular, ulcerated, heterogeneous thrombotic masses. Aneurysm sac resection was performed with an aorto-bi-iliac bypass reconstruction. A week later, it was mandatory to amputate the fifth toe on the left foot because of the advanced gangrenous process. The second case was a 77-year-old woman with 7-day history of severe feet pain. Abdominal examination revealed pulsatile mass paraumbilical to the left. Performed abdominal ultrasonography and MDCT angiography confirmed coexistence of the infrarenal aortic aneurysm, 40.5 mm in diameter, covered by significant mobile mural thrombus and ulcerations. Surgical reconstruction was mandatory and patient underwent aneurysm sac resection and aortobifemoral reconstruction. Conclusion. Embolic phenomenon and peripheral embolic occlusion from the mural thrombus within the abdominal aortic aneurysm are relatively rare events, but associated with tissue loss. Thorough diagnostic examinations and prompt management are required regardless of the aneurysm size once these signs occurred.

Keywords: abdominal aortic aneurysm, blue-toe syndrome, ischemia of extremities