Follow-up papers - Vascular general Upper limb ischemia in a patient with Wegener's granulomatosis

Objective: We report a clinical case of a small-vessel vasculitis with ischemia of the left upper limb. Case: A patient diagnosed with Wegener’s granulomatosis and involvement of the left axillary and brachial arteries. A left axillary-radial bypass with reversed left great saphenous vein was performed. Results: After a period of 36 months of follow-up the patient is asymptomatic with complete healing of the trophic lesions. Conclusion: Classic Wegener’s granulomatosis is a form of vasculitis that primarily involves the upper andyor lower respiratory tract and kidney. The amount of clinical symptoms is enormous and the diagnosis, arduous. In the literature there are only a few clinical cases referring to limb ischemia in a setting of Wegener’s granulomatosis. This is a unique case report of upper limb ischemia due to involvement of a medium–large size artery in a patient with Wegener’s granulomatosis. 2008 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.