Newer Anticoagulants

Vascular lesions and Oral cavity bacteria

Buerger's disease progression after 60 years of age?

Buerger's disease vessel with thrombus in lumen

Buerger's disease is often seen in people who started  smoking tobacco early in their lives.   
Can we arrest this disease progression?

 It is known that people develop atherosclerosis if they had been smoking for a long time with classical plaque formation. We can expect them to develop the major cardiovascular events prematurely. It is in this aspect it would be interesting to know if these phenomena (MACE) are more common in the Buerger's disease patients during the follow up! There are very few papers published on long term survival and  the natural course of the disease. Takashi Ohta etal followed 110 patients for a mean follow up period of 10.6 years. Natural course of life and limb is favorable in many patients with TAO. The part of the disease which causes the necrotic lesions seems to be arrested in patients after 60 years of age. Early treatment and abstaining from smoking can certainly help in modifying the disease progression significantly.  Here, in our unit, Injection Prostaglandin E-1 infusion therapy ( 500 mcg  in 3 days/ once in a month injections ) over 6 months brought lot of relief to these patients and arrested the progress of the disease avoided the major amputations.

J Vasc Surg 2004;39:176-180