Lower limb amputation secondary to large vessel involvement in scleroderma.
A 34-year-old woman with scleroderma was admitted to hospital with pain and weakness of her left foot. She was subsequently shown to have developed a popliteal artery occlusion associated with progressive lower limb ischaemia. This culminated in below-knee amputation. Marked intimal hyperplasia of the large vessels in the leg was noted histologically. An increasing number of cases of large vessel involvement in scleroderma, a disease that primarily affects the microvasculature, has been reported. Scleroderma should be regarded as a rare cause of large vessel peripheral vascular disease.
Dorevitch
M I
MI
Department of Rheumatology, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Clemens
L E
LE
Webb
J B
JB
D000328:Adult; D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000601:surgery; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology