Upper Limb Vascular Disease

Upper extremity vascular disease is not common, when compared to lower extremity vascular disease, but has very different kind of diagnostic challenge for physicians.

The most well-known reasons for Upper extremity vascular disease are:

• Atherosclerosis
• Embolic ailment

There are other foundational illnesses and anatomic anomalies that can cause furthest point
vascular sickness including vasculitis, arteritis, Takayasu’s Aortitis and Thoracic Outlet
Syndrome.

Upper limb vascular disease can present with:

• Discomfort or pain in your arms or hand
• Tightness, greatness, cramping, or shortcoming in either of your arms
• Coldness or bluish to blakish color change in hands

Risk Factors

All these symptoms might be a side effect of Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) involving upper extrimities

Risk factors for these include:

• Smoking
• High cholesterol levels in the blood
• Obesity
• Family history of heart or vascular sickness

According to patients symptoms, vascular surgeon decides to do certain tests which includes:

• Digital subtraction angiography (DSA)
• Computerized tomographic angiography (CTA)
• Magnetic reverberation angiography (MRA)

Depending up on patients symptoms and imaging results, vasular surgeon decides about treatment options. Patient can be managed either with medicines or if required, endovascular intervention like angioplasty and stenting can be done.