Objective: To evaluate the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of lower limb arterial occlusion in patients below 45 years old.
Methods: The clinical data of 58 patients with lower limb arterial occlusion (except for Buerger's disease) below 45 years old admitted to PUMC Hospital from July 1997 to November 2007 were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: Among these 58 patients, 31 patients (53.4%) had confirmed thrombophilic risk factors, including 12 patients had two or more thrombophilic risk factors. Follow-up (ranged 2-43 months, mean 10 months) showed higher rates of revascularization and amputation in patients with thrombophilic risk factors (22.6% and 22.6%, respectively) than in those without thrombophilic risk factors (14.8% and 11.1%, respectively) (P > 0.05). Among patients with two or more thrombophilic risk factors, the rates of revascularization and amputation were 25.0% and 33.3%, respectively.
Conclusions: Lower limb arterial occlusion in young adults is often caused by thrombophilic risk factors. Attention should be taken to identify these etiologies before surgical treatment.