Venous gangrene of the limb. Pathophysiological and therapeutic considerations

Venous gangrene of the limb is a rare disease. Peripheral arterial collapse has been shown to underlie the ischaemia. The two patients studied had venous gangrene and malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract with liver metastases. One patient had slowly and the other rapidly progressing gangrene despite heparin-warfarin therapy. Both patients died. Microscopy revealed occlusive thrombosis of small peripheral arteries of the leg. The authors conclude that the pathophysiology in venous gangrene may be occlusive thrombosis of small arteries. This situation is the lethal form of the entity and responds poorly to established therapy.