Ghiringhelli C

A case of Buerger's disease in women.

Buerger’s disease is a chronic obliterating arteriopathy affecting predominantly the lower limbs, although the vessels of the arms may also be involved. Episodes of &dquo;migrating phlebitis&dquo; frequently accompany the arterial lesions of the legs. Most often the disease strikes young and middle-aged subjects, and is limited almost exclusively to the male sex. In a monograph published in 1924, Buerger’ reported two cases in women out of a total of 500 subjects; Horton and Brown2 recorded 10 cases out of 700; Silbert3 mentions 25 cases out of 1600; Hammarstrom4 described 1 case; Selvaag5 reported 2 cases; Messent,6 Hiertonn and others,7 Gaylis,8 Davis and King,9 and Cutler’O reported 1 case each. According to Fisher and co-workers,ll no more than 60 cases of Buerger’s disease in women have been reported, and, of these, only 7 have been documented with certainty. In 1957, Gaylis,8 reviewing 4467 cases of Buerger’s disease described in the world medical literature and