title: Lower limb amputation secondary to large vessel involvement in scleroderma.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Dorevitch
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Clemens
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Webb
mesh_terms: 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