ABSTRACT
Introduction The distal abdominal aorta is commonly affected by atherosclerosis in patients with ischemic peripheral atherosclerotic disease.1 Two different patterns of atherosclerotic disease affect the infrarenal aorta including: (1) localized disease of the aortic bifurcation involving the lower part of the abdominal aorta and the common iliac arteries, whether symmetric or not; and (2) isolated lesions of the infrarenal abdominal aorta without involvement of the aortic bifurcation. This latter pattern of focal stenosis or occlusion of the infrarenal aorta above the aortic bifurcation is relatively rarely observed. Interestingly, it is more frequently documented in women aged 30-50 years, in contrast to chronic multilevel atherosclerotic disease that has a male predominance (male-female ratio, approximately 6:1).2 Heavy smoking as well as elevated blood lipid concentrations are among the most important risk factors,3,4 while the hypoplastic aorta syndrome has also been reported to play a significant role in this aortic pathology.5
