Adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery.

Adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery has been treated surgically in two patients. Both patients were young men, otherwise healthy, in whom disabling calf claudication developed. Arteriography demonstrated a crescentic defect in one patient and near-total midpopliteal occlusion in the other. Resection and a bypass graft resulted in complete relief of symptoms. This disease should be considered when examining a young person with claudication. The differential diagnosis of claudication in a young adult is primarily between this entity and popliteal artery entrapment syndrome.