How Does Pseudoaneurysm Occur and How Is It Treated?

Pseudoaneurysm which is also known by the name of False Aneurysm forms when an artery or a vessel gets dilated due to an injury resulting in pooling of blood outside the artery. The difference between a true and a false aneurysm is that in a true aneurysm there is enlargement of the artery or vessel but it is not due to an injury or trauma and there is normal flow of the blood which is not the case in a false aneurysm.

Pseudoaneurysm normally is a complication of cardiac catheterization, which is a procedure normally done to take images of the heart to make sure that the heart is functioning normally. In this procedure a catheter is inserted in the artery from the groin and is carried all the way to the heart. This method is also used to treat certain heart conditions as well. Pseudoaneurysm tends to develop at the site where the catheter was inserted into the groin region which is normally the femoral artery and there is pooling of blood outside the artery. This aneurysm can also develop in other parts of the body where a surgical procedure has been performed or a catheter has been inserted through an artery.

There have also been cases of Pseudoaneurysm occurring in the chambers of the heart as well usually the left ventricle usually due to damage caused by a heart attack to the chambers of the heart which causes blood to pool outside the heart muscle which has been injured damage from a heart attack causes blood to leak and pool outside the injured heart muscle.

If Pseudoaneurysm caused due to a puncture wound of the femoral artery during a cardiac catheterization is very small then it does not require any specific treatment and do not cause any complications. In fact it may go undetected but if the Pseudoaneurysm is quite big in proportion and is easily detected on scans then the physician may adopt a wait and watch approach to see if it resolves on its own without any intervention, although in most of the cases treatment is required. Some of the treatments recommended for treatment of Pseudoaneurysm are:

The first intervention will be a procedure in which the physician will first detect the Pseudoaneurysm using ultrasound imaging and when identified the physician applies pressure in the aneurysm and releases the pooled blood and resolves the condition.

Another mode of treatment of Pseudoaneurysm is by injecting thrombin so as to clot the pooled blood. The aneurysm is identified first using ultrasound imaging and once the site of the aneurysm is identified the thrombin is injected at that site and the condition is resolved

Surgical procedure is recommended in cases where the above two modes of treatment is not effective in treating the condition then a surgical procedure will be recommended to remove the Pseudoaneurysm in its entirety and resolve the condition.