Cor Vasa 2006, 48(5):198-201 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2006.059

A female patient with critical peripheral artery disease in the presence of Buerger s disease after 45 years

Jiří Spáčil^2,*, Jaroslava Svobodová¹, Jiří Král¹

¹ III. interní klinika, Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice a 1. lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy

² Subkatedra angiologie IPVZ, Praha, Česká republika

This is the case report of a woman receiving treatment from 1960 when she was 32 years old for inflammatory disease manifesting itself with inflammatory infiltrates on the limbs and occlusion of all crural arteries with critical peripheral artery disease (PAD). Treatment was capable of stabilizing the patient s condition so she developed no gangrene and required no amputation. Once she stopped smoking, which the patient originally denied, after myocardial infarction in 1994, the peripheral artery functional status improved considerably. The patient reported no claudications, distal perimolar pressure values were only slightly decreased. Arteriography performed in 2004 confirmed occlusion of all three crural arteries with development of a collateral circulation. It is our impression the patient had Buerger s disease (thromboangiitis obliterans). Gangrenes and amputation need not necessarily occur despite the occlusion of all crural arteries. A precondition for successful management is smoking cessation.

Keywords: Buerger s disease; Smoking

Published: May 1, 2006  Show citation