[Femoropopliteal venous bypass in distal duplication of the great saphenous vein with bridge veins. Case report].

A 74-year-old patient with peripheral arterial obstructive disease II B presented a full-length obstruction of the superficial femoral artery and additionally a segmental 10 cm long obstruction of the deep femoral artery. The arteries of the calf were patent. In this situation a bypass with an autologous vein was taken in advice. At surgery in December 1988 the great saphenous vein from the contralateral leg was prepared. It was found to be duplicated and contained numerous bridging veins. The duplication was maintained to compensate for the difference of calibre. The proximal anastomosis was done with the double-lumen graft including in between a split bridging vein. This arrangement provided favourable anatomic and functional outlets to the two saphenous branches. At follow-up in January 1990 the patient was fully reintegrated and had an unlimited walking distance. Doppler sonography showed normal closing pressure in the peripheral arteries. The intravenous digitalized subtraction angiography demonstrated regular perfusion of both branches of the duplicate bypass.