Buerger’s Disease
Buerger’s Disease is vasculitis causing insufficient blood flow to the hands and feet, producing numbness, tingling and ultimately skin and gangrene. The classic Buerger’s patient is a male, between the ages of 20 and 40, although there is a higher percentage of women and people over the age of 50 being diagnosed. Buerger’s disease is most common in the Orient, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East, but appears to be rare among African–Americans.
Diagnosis: Angiograms of the extremities is helpful in making the diagnosis. Skin biopsies are not recommended due to the concern that the biopsy site will not heal.
Treatment: Buerger’s disease is associated with smoking and tobacco products. Patients must stop smoking immediately. Abstinence from these products is the only way to treat this disease. Although anti-inflammatory agents (steroids) have proven beneficial in other vasculitides, they are not beneficial in treating Buerger’s.
Buerger's Disease Research
ClinicalTrials.com provides regularly updated information about federally and privately supported clinical research.
Open studies for Buerger's Disease:
Therapeutic Angiogenesis Using Cell Transplantation (TACT) Study at Nagoya
Research on Buerger's Disease from Entrez Pubmed:
The US National Library of Medicine has a search service that allows anyone with internet access to look for medical articles free of charge. PubMed makes it easy to look up diseases, medicines, research authors or any combination of the above.
Here is a partial listing of some of the research. It is important to note that much research results in preliminary findings that should not be confused with established fact. These links are from Entrez PubMed:
Results of treatments for critical limb ischemia: effectiveness and indications
Matsubara J
Hakuaikai Hospital, Gifu, Japan
Saito Y, Sasaki K, Katsuda Y, Murohara T, Takeshita Y, Okazaki T, Arima K, Katsuki Y, Shintani S, Shimada T, Akashi H, Ikeda H, Imaizumi T
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardio-Vascular Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
Fazeli B, Modaghegh H, Ravrai H, Kazemzadeh G
Vascular Surgery Research Center, Vascular Surgery Ward, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran
Thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease): searching for a therapeutic strategy
Paraskevas KI, Liapis CD, Briana DD, Mikhailidis DP
Department of Vascular Surgery, Athens University Medical School, Athens, Greece
Thromboangiitis obliterans or Buerger's disease: challenges for the rheumatologist
Puechal X, Fiessinger JN
Rheumatology Department, Le Mans General Hospital, Le Mans, France
Thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease)
Arkkila PE
Department of Gastroenterology, Helsinki University, Centrala Hospital, 00029 Hus, Finland
Diagnostic criteria and treatment of Buerger's disease: a review
Lazarides MK, Georgiadis GS, Papas TT, Nikolopoulos ES
Department of Vascular Surgery, Demokritos University Hospital, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease)
Olin JW, Shih A
Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute and Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Cardiovascular Health, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA