THROMBOENDARTERECTOMY IN THE TREATMENT OF LOWER AORTIC OCCLUSION

Abstract

THE FACT that the abdominal aorta distal to the renal arteries can be totally occluded by disease and the legs still be viable has been recognized for many years. Reports by Ortner and Griswold,¹ Goodwin and Petrie,₂ and deWolfe and his associates³ have described cases of this type. Leriche⁴ has given his name to the resulting symptom-complex of severe low back and buttock pain on walking, characteristic of high-level intermittant claudication associated with leg ischemia and impotence in the male. This segmental lower aortic and/or common iliac segmental occlusion is commoner than previously realized, and the increasing awareness of its existence has resulted in the discovery of many previously unrecognized cases. In the past year I have seen 10 such cases and their description and management form the basis of this report. Segmental occlusion of the distal aorta is frequently associated with varying degrees of involvement