Gangrene of an extremity secondary to venous thrombosis.

EXTENSIVE venous occlusion of an extremity leading to gangrene is a relatively rare occurrence, as judged from a review of the literature.1The opinion, however, has been expressed that undoubtedly many cases of gangrene occur in which the true nature of the underlying disease is not recognized and which, therefore, are attributed to arterial occlusion.2It is for this reason that we wish to call attention to the serious complication of venous thrombosis by reporting a case which was recently observed by us. Haimovici,1in an extensive review of the literature up to 1949, collected 28 cases of gangrene of an extremity on the basis of massive venous occlusion. In two of these patients the involvement was bilateral. The incidence of gangrene in the lower extremities was about 80%, in the upper, 20%. The ages varied from 8 to 69 years, with almost equal distribution in the