Nonatherosclerotic Segmental Arterial Occlusion of the Extremity

Of 375 patients encountered with chronic arterial occlusive disease of the extremity, 236 were classified as having Buerger disease and 139 as having arteriosclerosis. In only 11 of the former was the occlusion segmental and susceptible to reconstructive surgery, ten in the lower extremity and one in the upper extremity. In eight of these 11 the occlusions were multiple. Although the distribution of the lesions in these 11 patients was atypical for Buerger disease, histologic material available supports an inflammatory cause more complicated than a simple reaction to thrombosis.