Compression of the common femoral artery by a lymphangioma causing intermittent claudication.

External compression of the common femoral artery secondary to a lymphangioma has not been reported before. A female patient presented with intermittent claudication of the right lower extremity. She was examined with Doppler vascular ultrasound and computed tomography, which demonstrated a cystic mass that did not infiltrate the arterial wall. At operation we found a mass adjacent to and causing compression of the common femoral artery, which was completely resected. The histological report described a cystic cavernomatous lymphangioma. Surgical treatment of lymphangiomas includes complete resection of the lesion and arterial reconstruction or bypass if necessary. In our case, the lymphangioma did not infiltrate the arterial wall and was completely resected.