title: Venous gangrene (phlegmasia caerulea dolens) complicating heart failure from severe mitral stenosis--a case history.
abstract: Gangrene of the left upper limb was found to complicate severe mitral stenosis presenting with heart failure in a sixty-eight-year-old woman with a documented left atrial thrombus. Arterial obstruction as the cause of gangrene was excluded by Doppler-assisted assessment of the peripheral pulses. Venous gangrene can complicate severe mitral stenosis and must be distinguished from arterial embolization, in which urgent surgical treatment is imperative.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001132:Arm / Q000098:blood supply*; D005260:Female; D005734:Gangrene / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D013924:Thrombophlebitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology