Recurrent Episodes of Mesenteric Ischemia in a Male Smoker as the Sole Manifestation of Thromboangiitis Obliterans over a Period of Six Years

Thrombangiitis obliterans (TAO) or Buerger`s disease is an inflammatory disease of unknown etiology affecting small- and medium-sized arteries and veins usually leading to peripheral distal ischemia syndromes induced by mononuclear cell-rich thrombotic vessel occlusions [1,2]. Affected patients cover a high risk of amputation, while overall survival does not seem to be reduced [1,2]. TAO is closely related to tobacco and cannabis consumption [1,3,4]. Although Leo Burger already noticed visceral arterial involvement in his earliest series of TAO-patients, visceral or cerebral manifestations of TAO are rarely published. Gastrointestinal tract manifestations were reported in 32 articles published between 1947 and 2016 comprising 41 patients. Of these, only 11 had exclusive involvement of the mesenteric arteries [5]. We report on a male patient of Turkish descent with a medical history of politoxicomania who suffered from recurrent acute mesenteric ischemia as the sole manifestation of TAO over a period of six years. Read more...