Arterial blood vessels are directly related to our lives. Various diseases occur in arteries other than cardiovascular or cerebrovascular. Kangdong Kyung Hee University Hospital Vascular Surgery Hospital Professor Cho Sung-shin emphasized, “In severe cases, death or limb amputation may occur, so attention (arterial diseases related to blood vessels) is necessary.”
Arterial diseases other than the heart and cerebrovascular vessels include iliac artery occlusion and lower extremity artery occlusion, which can cause necrosis in the legs, and abdominal aneurysms, known as ‘time bombs in the stomach’.
Vascular-related diseases are scary because they have no symptoms. There are no nerves in the blood vessels, so no symptoms can be felt. Then, symptoms appear when the blood vessels are blocked by about 75%.
Iliac and lower extremity arterial occlusion causing leg necrosis
The representative peripheral arterial diseases are iliac artery occlusion and lower extremity artery occlusion. The iliac artery is a large artery in the pelvis that goes down from the abdominal aorta to the legs, and symptoms appear when it is blocked by arteriosclerosis or blood clots.
Its symptoms are so vague that it is easy to confuse it with other diseases. When you walk, your calf or buttock hurts like it’s going to burst, and the symptoms subside after you rest for a while, but it can be mistaken for disc herniations or spine. Therefore, if no abnormalities are found in the hip joint and spine, the iliac artery must be examined.
I also feel cold in the blocked leg where blood is not flowing. So, if you feel pain in the muscles from hip to hip, you need a vascular surgery test. In the beginning, there is only pain, but if it gets worse, the blood may not get through and the tissue may die.
Lower extremity arterial occlusion is also on the rise. In particular, as chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes increase, not a few cases occur in patients in their 50s. The symptoms are similar to iliac artery occlusion. As the disease progresses, the legs feel cold, the color of the toes changes to black, the wounds on the feet do not heal well, and in severe cases, the legs become necrotic.
It is possible to detect the difference in blood pressure by measuring the blood pressure of both arms and legs at the same time while lying down.
Belly Time Bomb Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
The most dangerous of arterial diseases is abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture. Part of the aorta swells like a balloon, and at some point, the pressure rises and ruptures. All the blood from the heart drains into the stomach. The mortality rate before reaching the emergency room is 20%, and even if you go up from the emergency room to the operating room within 30 minutes, the survival rate is only half. It should not take more than 40 minutes until the burst vessel is blocked.
The most common cause of abdominal aortic aneurysm is aging of the blood vessels. If you look at the actual age of patients, it is increasing from the 60s. Here, it occurs more often in people with poor blood vessel health, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Recently, a small hole is drilled in the skin and a balloon is placed in it to block the blood vessel from which blood is pouring out, and a stent is placed to ensure the passage of the blood vessel, or an artificial blood vessel is added to block the blood . rupture, shortening the operation time and improving the survival rate
How to keep blood vessels healthy
It is more important than anything else to have good habits such as a healthy diet and exercise. Avoid high fat and high calorie diets and maintain a healthy weight. Professor Cho noted, “Exercise in particular is the best prevention method that strengthens the elasticity of blood vessels.”
Tobacco is the biggest enemy of blood vessels, and smoking increases the incidence of vascular disease 4 to 8 times. Blood pressure and blood sugar control are also important, and the elderly are also a high risk group for vascular disease, so the older you get, the more you pay attention to’ d vascular health.
