True Aneurysm of the Proximal Brachial Artery

Abstract

A 35-year-old farmer presented with complaints of pain in the right upper limb for 1 month and bluish discoloration of the right-hand finger tips with tingling and numbness. He sustained injury to the right upper limb while lifting a heavy object 1 mo previously. There was an ovoid swelling of 4 × 2 cm on the medial aspect of the right arm, 12 cm above the medial epicondyle at the level of the armpit with visible pulsations. There was distal neurovascular deficit. Duplex scan of the right upper limb arterial system revealed a pseudoaneurysm of the proximal right brachial artery, with dampened monophasic flow in the ulnar artery and no flow in the radial artery. Spiral computed tomography angiogram showed the presence of an echogenic periarterial lesion in the proximal brachial artery suggestive of pseudoaneurysm or an extrinsic compression by hematoma. Distal brachial artery was found to have filled with thrombus, with non-opacification of the radial and the distal ulnar artery. The patient was posted for excision of the aneurysmal arterial segment. A 5-cm-long reversed segment of vein graft was interposed in between the cut ends of the brachial artery. Histopathology: Specimen shows a part of the vessel wall composed of intimal, medial, and adventitial layers with intraluminal thrombus showing evidence of recanalization suggestive of true aneurysm of the brachial artery.