The importance of high lumbar aortography in the Leriche syndrome.

Three patients with Leriche syndrome in whom a conventional low puncture lumbar aortogram failed to demonstrate the causative lesions are described. The aortic obstruction in Leriche syndrome is not always at the lower end of the aorta and may be high in the lumbar aorta. The importance of a high (D12/L1) puncture in patients with suspected Leriche syndrome, so that the whole of the abdominal aorta is visualised, is emphasised.