Bilateral Absence of Pulse in the Arms and Neck in Aortic Aneurysm

The absence of pulsation in the radial, brachial and carotid arteries of both sides is a rare condition. A patient showing such abnormality was under observation in the wards of the University Hospital. In a study of the literature only three reports of instances in which this striking abnormality occurred were found. We are collecting and reviewing these, adding our report of a case as a fourth. INCIDENCE Because of the frequency of aortic aneurysm, large groups of statistics are available dealing with signs and symptoms in the presence of this lesion. Boyd¹in 1924 studied collected reports on 4,000 cases of thoracic aortic aneurysm, stating that over 5,000 cases had been reported in the literature. Since we are dealing with a not uncommon lesion, the finding of only three reports of cases of bilateral absence of pulse indicates the extreme rarity of this remarkable abnormality. Pulse abnormalities, such as