jimmae wrote:
missnaut wrote:
How the hell do you get a cyst on an artery? Is it just one of those weird things?
A cyst is just sac of air or fluid or mass that's closed off and gotten in the way, so they can form just about anywhere in the body. It could have been a Baker's cyst as noted, but it could also have been a cyst further down towards the foot while still following the neurovascular bundle.
No, not really.
Just below the knee the main arterial supply to the leg splits into 3. Even if you lose one of those arteries the foot receives enough blood to prevent the ischaemic symptoms that Kreuz has described. So his problem was around knee level or higher.
Also, it probably was not a Baker's cyst. These cysts are chronic (Kreuz's problem was acute onset) and can cause pain but are unlikely to compromise blood supply.
The most likely diagnosis from the information we have (which is not really sufficient), is a set of rare and unusual arterial disorders that affect young people at the knee level. Two such conditions are popliteal entrapment syndrome or cystic adventitial disease, but it's impossible to tell with the little information we have.
All I can say is we should be very grateful that the diagnosis was made so quickly. Athletes are usually assumed to have musculoskeletal injuries and vascular disorders are not considered as potential diagnoses because they are more common in 70+ year old grannies!
This unfortunately happened to our own Setanta OhAilpin, who had arterial ischaemic symptoms misdiagnosed for over a year before they were treated a few years ago.
So whoever diagnosed Kreuz thankfully did a very neat job (or learnt from the Setanta experience!).
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