Infected False Aneurysm After Carotid Endarterectomy

Infected false aneurysm after carotid endarterectomy is extremely rare, with only 14 cases having been reported in the English-language literature. These can occur even in the absence of prosthetic material. Presentation may be early or delayed, and most patients will develop a tender, pulsatile cervical mass. Surgical therapy can be challenging, with aneurysm excision and autologous interposition grafting the favored approach. The authors report herein a case of postendarterectomy carotid artery infection diagnosed by color-duplex ultrasound, and they review the published experience with this entity.