PERIVASCULAR INFLAMMATORY REACTION AFTER PERCUTANEOUS PLACEMENT OF COVERED STENTS

A 52-year-old woman with an extensive superficial femoral artery occlu sion was treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Because o f extensive dissections, two covered stents were placed percutaneously . The intervention was successful with respect to vessel patency, but local pain and fever developed 5 hr after the intervention. Swelling o f the thigh occurred, but deep venous thrombosis was excluded, MRI rev ealed pronounced soft-tissue edema in the adductor canal that persiste d for 4 weeks. The fever responded to antiinflammatory medication, but the pain remained for 4 weeks. The vessel was patent at the last foll ow-up, 8 weeks after graft placement. Soft-tissue edema after percutan eous placement of covered stents has been reported previously. The cau se of the inflammatory reaction is unclear.