Ilio-femoral aneurysm masquerading as an inguinal abscess.

True isolated atherosclerotic aneurysms of the superficial femoral artery are rare. In this paper, we report a case of ilio-femoral aneurysmatic dilatation masquerading as an inguinal abscess in 40-year-old male. This interesting case was accidentally found during dissection of pelvic vessels, in the Department of Anatomy, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. After going through the history of the patient .We found that he had the history of swelling in both groins being drained 20 years back, and also the multiple heterosexual exposures. The swelling was pulsatile, tender, and soft to firm in consistency and measured 7x3 cm. All physical signs were suggestive of an abscess and he was treated conservatively by ampicillin, gentamycin, metronidazole, and anti-inflammatory drugs. Fine needle aspiration yielded only frank blood. Subsequently, general condition of the patient deteriorated and died due to hypovolemic shock. Autopsy revealed a ruptured fusiform aneurysm measuring 10x5 cm at the junction of right external iliac with the femoral arteries measuring 3 cm in diameter. This case is an example of difficulties in diagnosing the rare arterial aneurysm, thus leading to misdiagnosis as an inguinal abscess. When only the blood is drawn during fine needle aspiration, one should suspect the swelling as an aneurysmatic dilatation.