Arterial endofibrosis in professional cyclists.

External Iliac Artery Endofibrosis (EIAE) is an uncommon disease usually affecting young, otherwise healthy, patients. It usually involves cyclists but cases have been reported in other groups of endurance athletes. The external iliac artery is the most affected anatomical site but other locations are described too. The precise pathophysiology and long-term evolution of the disease still remain unknown. The diagnosis may be challenging and delayed as the patients usually present symptoms only in extreme conditions and physical and instrumental examinations may be normal at rest. We present two cases of young professional cyclists who suffered of exercise-induced leg pain which led them to reduce running. Both patients were firstly treated with balloon angioplasty that rapidly failed to improve their symptoms. The successive open surgery with endofibrosectomy and autologous saphenous vein closure patch completely resolved physical limitations. EIAE is a rare disease that can induce arterial stenosis, thrombosis, dissection and secondary atheroma. After-exercise ankle-brachial index represents a useful diagnostic criterion. Careful observation of angio-CT may strengthen the suspect. Knowledge of the these features allows a better pre-operative assessment and an early effective treatment. Surgical revascularization remains the gold standard approach.

Cystic adventitial disease of the popliteal artery: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Cystic adventitial disease (CAD) is a rare vascular disease that causes a localized stenosis or occlusion in absence of alterations of blood vessels in other sites of the body. CAD is predominantly located to the popliteal artery, although cases have been described involving other arteries. Typically it affects young men with minimal cardiovascular risk factors, presenting a short history of progressive claudication. Imaging is based on US, CTA and MRA. Suspected diagnosis is confirmed at the time of the surgery. We report two cases of CAD involving the popliteal artery. In the first case a 59 year-old man was treated by resection of the popliteal artery and a reversed saphenous vein was used to restore circulation. In the second case a 53 year-old man was treated by resection of the popliteal artery and a cryo-preserved arterial graft was used to restore circulation. We also made a review of the literature on this subject.

Lymphnode metastasis of thyroid cancer misinterpreted as lateral aberrant thyroid 40 years before identification of primary tumor. Case report and review of the literature.

The differential diagnosis between lateral ectopic thyroid tissue with orthotopic normal gland and metastatic thyroid carcinoma is challenging. Lateral cervical site is a very rare location for ectopic tissue since only a few cases have been reported. The peculiarity of this clinical case is the finding of a thyroid carcinoma forty years after surgical resection of the ectopic thyroid lesion. This asynchronous association, never reported in literature, raises the question of the differential diagnosis between a true ectopic aberrant thyroid and an early lymph node metastasis from an occult thyroid carcinoma, evident in the primitive site many years later. Several elements, which will be matter of discussion, seem to favour the latter hypothesis.This case, although isolated, suggests that any lateral cervical mass, comprising thyroid tissue, should be regarded as a metastasis of thyroid carcinoma until proven otherwise. Carefull investigation of thyroid gland is mandatory.