MR diagnosis of superficial femoral artery aneurysm, primarily misdiagnosed as soft tissue tumor. A case report.

We report a 84-year-old man with an aneurysm of the superficial femory artery (SFA). Primarily, after B-mode sonography soft tissue neoplasm was suspected and sectional MR imaging was performed for further diagnostics. Because of blood flow related ghost artifacts, sectional MR led to the diagnosis of an partially thrombosed aneurysm without angiography. Initially, the differential diagnosis of an SFA aneurysm, which is extremely rare, has not been considered. Soft tissue neoplasms may have a similar appearance to partially thrombosed aneurysms. This case demonstrate the importance to notice also artifacts in sectional MRI which can give important informations for correct diagnosis.