A 27-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for investigation of severe claudication in his right foot. Based on the findings of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), we diagnosed anatomic popliteal artery entrapment syndrome, which was causing a short popliteal artery occlusion. Moreover, a long posterior tibial artery occlusion and a peroneal artery lesion had developed as distal thromboembolic complications of the entrapment. Thus, we planned to perform in situ vein bypass graft for the popliteal occlusion and start thrombolytic treatment for the posterior tibial and peroneal lesions. While contemplating the operation, the patient showed a gradual clinical improvement over the next 2 months. A second MRA showed total arterial recanalization of the right posterior tibial and peroneal arteries, although the popliteal artery was still occluded. Spontaneous lower limb arterial recanalization is a rare phenomenon. To our knowledge, this is the first case of spontaneous arterial recanalization after a distal thromboembolic event caused by popliteal entrapment syndrome.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.