Amniotic band syndrome with persistent sciatic artery: a case report.

Amniotic band syndrome (ABS) has an incidence of 1/15,000. Deformities vary from rare but bizarre craniofacial defects or truncal defects to the commoner limb defects. The pathogenesis of ABS remains controversial. The following is a case of a 3-month-old infant with amniotic band syndrome with the typical limb reduction defects, a constriction band on the thigh associated with a persistent sciatic artery and bifurcation of the femur and the duplication of the knee and tibia on the contra lateral side. The anatomy of the persistent sciatic artery is demonstrated in magnetic resonance angiography and digital subtraction angiography. The vascular anomaly was unilateral. The patient underwent surgical correction of the constriction band by excision and multiple Z plasty. This case is the first description of the coexistence of ABS and persistent sciatic artery. Persistent sciatic artery has angiographic incidence of 0.05%. Is this purely a coincidence? Or perhaps their coexistence may serve to further the understanding of the mechanism of ABS.