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Acute Ischemic Syndromes of the Upper Extremities

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PanVascular Medicine

Abstract

Acute upper extremity ischemia is less common than lower extremity ischemia. The most common cause is emboli and the most common source of embolus is the heart. The upper extremity tolerates acute ischemia better than the lower extremity primarily because of its robust collaterals. There is a low incidence of amputation, but immediate revascularization of the upper extremity should be performed to prevent significant disability. The primary treatment of acute upper extremity ischemia is balloon catheter embolectomy. Despite a high rate of limb salvage, acute upper extremity ischemia has a high mortality secondary to patient age and medical comorbidities.

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Correspondence to Bart Muhs .

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Muhs, B., Weiss, D., Mojibian, H. (2014). Acute Ischemic Syndromes of the Upper Extremities. In: Lanzer, P. (eds) PanVascular Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37393-0_189-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37393-0_189-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-37393-0

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