{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T08:32:40Z","timestamp":1786350760534,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786320000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, the Ministry of Science and Technology","award":["MOST 106-2314-B-002-180-MY3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MOST 106-2314-B-002-180-MY3"]}]},{"name":"National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, the Ministry of Science and Technology","award":["109-2314-B-002-114-MY3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["109-2314-B-002-114-MY3"]}]},{"name":"National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, the Ministry of Science and Technology","award":["111-2314-B-002\u2013161"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["111-2314-B-002\u2013161"]}]},{"name":"National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, the Ministry of Science and Technology","award":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-208-MY2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-208-MY2"]}]},{"name":"National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, the Ministry of Science and Technology","award":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-209-MY2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-209-MY2"]}]},{"award":["MOST 106-2314-B-002-180-MY3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MOST 106-2314-B-002-180-MY3"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03nteze27","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["109-2314-B-002-114-MY3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["109-2314-B-002-114-MY3"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03nteze27","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["111-2314-B-002\u2013161"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["111-2314-B-002\u2013161"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03nteze27","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-208-MY2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-208-MY2"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03nteze27","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-209-MY2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSTC 113-2314-B-002-209-MY2"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03nteze27","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Health Taiwan Deep Cultivation Project","award":["HTS-114-115-A3-0001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HTS-114-115-A3-0001"]}]},{"name":"Taiwan Society of Ultrasound in Medicine"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Popliteal artery aneurysms (PAA) lose their pulsatility once thrombosed and may therefore be mistaken for a Baker cyst or a soft-tissue tumor. A 58-year-old male presented with a 6-month history of progressive right popliteal swelling and pain, accompanied by right foot paresthesia and diminished distal pulses for two months. The presence of accompanying neurovascular deficits shifted the diagnostic consideration from a benign soft-tissue lesion to a vascular disorder. In this patient, non-contrast imaging protocol integrating grayscale ultrasound, power Doppler, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) successfully identified a chronically thrombosed popliteal artery aneurysm, supporting a vascular rather than neoplastic etiology. While ultrasound cannot replace contrast-enhanced MRI for definitive tissue characterization, its real-time capability established a vascular etiology and guided subsequent diagnostic digital subtraction angiography with urgent endovascular stent-graft reconstruction. Furthermore, serial ultrasonographic surveillance at three and 18 months confirmed long-term stent-graft patency and favorable aneurysmal sac remodeling. Neurovascular deficits accompanying a popliteal mass should redirect the workup toward vascular imaging. This case underscores a critical diagnostic pitfall, demonstrating that a stepwise strategy combining real-time ultrasound and non-contrast MRI ensures rapid definitive management for complex popliteal masses while preserving the unique role of sonography in non-invasive follow-up.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics16162513","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T08:08:53Z","timestamp":1786349333000},"page":"2513","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Thrombosed Popliteal Artery Aneurysm Masquerading as a Benign Soft-Tissue Mass: A Case Report Emphasizing the Role of Multimodal Imaging"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7701-4740","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Po-Yin","family":"Shen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopaedics, Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, Kaohsiung 812, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Orthopaedics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan"},{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi-Hsueh","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan"},{"name":"Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, Kaohsiung 812, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6217-3036","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Po-Chao","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan"},{"name":"Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7511-9629","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wei-Ting","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Community and Geriatric Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, Taipei 108206, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100233, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7558-5651","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ke-Vin","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Community and Geriatric Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Bei-Hu Branch, Taipei 108206, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei 100233, Taiwan"},{"name":"Center for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Wang-Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110301, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2713-4071","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Levent","family":"\u00d6z\u00e7akar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Hacettepe University Medical School, Ankara 06100, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"323","DOI":"10.1016\/j.crad.2016.11.010","article-title":"A diagnostic approach to popliteal fossa masses","volume":"72","author":"Shah","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin. 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Surg."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"281","DOI":"10.3892\/ol.2021.12542","article-title":"Distinction between benign and malignant soft tissue tumors based on an ultrasonographic evaluation of vascularity and elasticity","volume":"21","author":"Ohshika","year":"2021","journal-title":"Oncol. Lett."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"687","DOI":"10.1016\/S0730-725X(03)00086-9","article-title":"MR diagnosis of superficial femoral artery aneurysm, primarily misdiagnosed as soft tissue tumor. A case report","volume":"21","author":"Dobritz","year":"2003","journal-title":"Magn. Reson. Imaging"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Styczewska, M., Lyzinska, W., Wardecki, S.M., Zajaczkowska, J., Kunc, M., Mikaszewski, B., Maciag, R., Regent, B., Wyrzykowski, D., and Jankowska, A. (2025). Diagnostic pitfalls: Soft-tissue sarcomas initially misdiagnosed as benign vascular anomalies-a case report and systematic review. 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