Pseudoaneurysm after total knee arthroplasty: imaging findings in 7 patients

To describe the clinical presentation of arterial pseudoaneurysms following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and their diagnostic imaging features on ultrasound and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in 7 patients.

A search of our radiology report database from 2007 to 2017 yielded 7 patients with a pseudoaneurysm diagnosed by imaging after TKA. Clinical notes and imaging were reviewed.

All 7 patients were male and ranged in age from 53 to 68 (mean 61) years. All patients presented with a painful swollen knee and hemarthrosis within the first month following surgery. Five patients presented after primary TKA. One patient presented after explantation for septic arthritis and another after partial synovectomy for septic arthritis without explantation. Ultrasound identified the pseudoaneurysm as a hypoechoic or hyperechoic mass with a “yin-yang” appearance of turbulent arterial flow and associated complex joint effusion. On MRA, the pseudoaneurysm was a mass next to a parent artery showing avid contrast enhancement in the arterial phase that persisted into the venous phase and washed out in the late venous phase. Six pseudoaneurysms arose from lateral geniculate arteries and 1 from a medial geniculate artery. There were no popliteal artery pseudoaneurysms. Five patients were treated endovascularly, 1 patient thrombosed without intervention, and 1 patient was treated with open surgery.

Pseudoaneurysm is a potential source of a painful swollen knee with hemarthrosis or a drop in hematocrit after TKA and can be identified with either ultrasound or MRA.