Abdominal angina.
Abdominal angina is an underrecognized cause of postprandial abdominal pain and weight loss. Diagnosis is often delayed and requires both a careful exclusion of more common causes and a high degree of clinical suspicion, based on the patient's age, the coexistence of multiple risk factors for atherosclerosis, and the presence of vasculopathy in other districts. Appropriate investigations include duplex ultrasound, traditional angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, computed tomography angiography, and tonometry. The purpose of this review is to discuss the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of chronic mesenteric ischemia and to suggest a diagnostic flowchart for this complex condition.
Biolato
Marco
M
Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Miele
Luca
L
Gasbarrini
Giovanni
G
Grieco
Antonio
A
D000005:Abdomen / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000792:Angiography; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D008365:Manometry; D008638:Mesenteric Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008641:Mesenteric Vascular Occlusion / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013152:Splanchnic Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex