[Preliminary results of prostaglandin E1 therapy in peripheral obliterating arteriopathy]

Prostaglandin E1 was given intraarterially to twenty persons with severe peripheral ischaemia at risk of requiring amputation of a limb for ischaemic ulcers or necrosis. All patients had received conventional therapy without success before PG E1 treatment. An average dose of 6.14 ng/kg/min of PG E1 was given intraarterially for 2 hrs daily over a period of six days. In fifteen cases PG E1 therapy resulted in complete or partial healing of the ulcers and necrotic areas while the patients no longer suffered from pain at rest. No beneficial effects of PG E1 treatment were seen in five patients. In these cases cases multiple arterial occlusions, caused by arteriosclerosis and diabetes mellitus, existed, in more than three levels. Side effects like pain in the infused limb and swelling of the extremity occurred in fourteen patients, but were reversible in each case.