Posts by velvetcrane1

thanks for getting back to me,

So, I finally have an update. I went in for a checkup at Mayo Clinic this morning. The doctor there went through all my tests, checked out my leg, and basically told me it’s not a clot—and never was. Turns out, it's actually "entrapment syndrome" involving my popliteal artery. Apparently, the folks over at the Lakers just totally misdiagnosed it and treated me for the wrong thing entirely.

The fix is surgery to "release" the artery from the muscle that's squeezing it.

Honestly, after being bounced around with so many different diagnoses, I’m pretty skeptical now. I’m going to hunt down a few more second opinions before I decide if I’m actually doing this.

The vascular specialist's advice? Just ramp up my activity levels and push right through the pain threshold every single time until the pain eventually gives up.

I don't have a hematologist—they never even mentioned I needed one. Any suggestions?

I'm moving out of the States in three months anyway, so I'll be switching doctors regardless. I just wanted to see if they could actually do anything useful for me while I'm still here.

I honestly have no clue why this Thrombophilia decided to show up again. My doctors basically told me this specific type isn't even hereditary—they called it some kind of "genetic fluke."

It feels like everyone just shrugged their shoulders at me back then. But look, if this was something I’ve carried my whole life, I don't get why it's "reappearing" now after two years—especially since I went twenty years without a single issue.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some insight or maybe someone with actual medical expertise who can help me make sense of this.

I’m 26. Before this whole vascular mess happened, I was a professional dancer. Back in January 2009, I ended up in the hospital at Los Angeles Lakers Medical Center because a Doppler scan showed an occlusion in my left popliteal artery. It started with this intense pain in my calf, my big toe swelled up, and my entire leg—from the knee down—went totally pale.

Here’s the quick rundown of my history:

Partial thrombosis of the left popliteal artery, treated with selective intra-arterial thrombolysis using alteplase, with suspected cystic degeneration of the popliteal artery adventitia.
Thrombophilia (homozygous for FDA, PAI polymorphism on both alleles - 1).
Homocysteine levels were within the normal range—so no substitution therapy was needed. Activated protein C resistance tests came back normal too.

Six months after being discharged, I was on Marivarin, then they did a follow-up Doppler.
"The popliteal and ATP show continuous flow with satisfactory velocity and preserved spectra. The distal part of the ADP shows slightly weaker flow, but the artery has visible flow and a preserved spectrum; this could be due to spasmodic changes. The distal portion of the fibular artery looks similar but shows normal Doppler spectra. Given that the arterial occlusion had a secondary etiology (prolonged excessive traction stress on the arterial wall, assuming underlying cystic adventitial degeneration) and since more than six months have passed since the vascular incident—combined with the practically normal Doppler findings for the popliteal-crural level of the left leg—I suggest discontinuing anticoagulant therapy."

That was back in the summer of 2009. Everything was fine after that—the pain just vanished. Once I felt better, I started training again, though just recreationally.
Then, out of nowhere, the pain came roaring back recently. I got another Doppler done, and the indices were super low—dorsalis pedis at 0.44 and posterior tibial at 0.59.

I had an MRA done right after, but I’m still waiting on those results.

So, here’s my question. What can actually be done here? If we're talking about a clot again, why would it just show up like this? Or is it the cyst?

Honestly, my biggest worry is staying active post-op. Are there any solutions that would let me get back to full training after surgery? Or am I stuck babying this knee forever because of that specific artery...?

Thanks in advance.