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The Prostacyclin Analog, Treprostinil Sodium, Provides Symptom Relief in Severe Buergers DiseaseA Case Report and Review of LiteratureSection of Vascular Medicine, Noninvasive Vascular Laboratory, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL
United Therapeutics, Research Triangle Park, NC Buergers disease (thromboangiitis obliterans or TAO) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the development of segmental thrombotic occlusions of the medium and small arteries. The primary treatment for Buergers disease is cessation of cigarette smoking. In patients whose disease progresses despite smoking cessation, therapeutic options are limited. Revascularization is rarely indicated and usually not successful because of the diffuse and distal distribution of the disease. Prostacyclin, or PGI2, and its analogs have been proposed as pharmacotherapy for Buergers disease and studied in Europe. The authors review the prostacyclin literature in the treatment of Buergers disease and present a case report of a patient with progressive Buergers disease and the use of treprostinil sodium (Remodulin®). This case report experience suggests that subcutaneous treprostinil therapy could be clinically useful in Buergers disease that does not improve with smoking cessation, particularly in the presence of critical limb ischemia where other therapeutic options have failed.
Angiology, Vol. 57, No. 1,
99-102 (2006) |
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