Lower limb arterio-venous fistula as a late complication of phlebectomy in a patient with Ehlers-Danlos type IV

Abstract

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV (EDS type IV), the vascular type, results from mutations in the gene for type III procollagen (COL3A1). Affected patients are at risk for arterial, bowel, and uterine rupture. The timing, frequency and course of these events are unpredictable. We report a 50-year-old patient with previous complications of EDS type IV who presented with recurrent varicose veins that subsequent imaging identified as an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) at the site of previous phlebectomy. Patients with EDS type IV present vascular surgeons manifold management problems. A pre-existing diagnosis of EDS type IV should alert the clinician to the risk of unusual presentations, both acutely and as complications subsequent to intervention. Once identified, appropriate investigation and follow-up of these patients by a vascular surgeon is mandated.