Vascular complications in the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

The Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a rare condition, which usually is easily recognized. In one type of this disease, type IV, arterial fragility dominates, and the syndrome may remain undiscovered until the patient has a traumatic or spontaneous arterial rupture. Two cases with a fatal outcome are presented in order to emphasize some important aspects in the management of these patients.