Lower limb amputation secondary to large vessel involvement in scleroderma.

A 34-year-old woman with scleroderma was admitted to hospital with pain and weakness of her left foot. She was subsequently shown to have developed a popliteal artery occlusion associated with progressive lower limb ischaemia. This culminated in below-knee amputation. Marked intimal hyperplasia of the large vessels in the leg was noted histologically. An increasing number of cases of large vessel involvement in scleroderma, a disease that primarily affects the microvasculature, has been reported. Scleroderma should be regarded as a rare cause of large vessel peripheral vascular disease.