POPULATION OF OUTPATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LI MB ARTERY OBLITERATION

Case records of 2135 outpatients referred to a specialized department with a provisional diagnosis of limb arterial affection have been anal yzed. It appeared that in 35 % of the cases the diagnosis was erroneou s, the complaints being due to neurological and locomotor disturbances . Nosological entities of confirmed vascular diseases were the followi ng: obliterating atherosclerosis (81.8 %), obliterating peripheral aor tic arteritis (9 %), obliterating atherosclerosis associated with diab etic angiopathy (6 %), obliterating thromboangiitis (1.6 %), Raynaud's disease (1.6 %). The disease-specific age pattern showed that obliter ating atherosclerosis and age-specific cholesterol levels have the sam e trends, that there may be transformation of obliterating thromboangi itis into nonspecific aortic arteritis which eventuates in advanced ag e into obliterating atherosclerosis.