Clinical effectiveness of percutaneous angioplasty for acute and chronic mesenteric ischemia: a six case series.

Intestinal ischemia is divided into three categories, namely, acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI), chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI), and colonic ischemia. AMI can result from arterial or venous thrombi, emboli, and vasoconstriction secondary to low-flow states. It is an urgent condition which can result in high mortality rate. The predominant causative factor of CMI is stenosis or occlusion of the mesenteric arterial circulation, and it is characterized by postprandial abdominal pain and weight loss. Surgery is the treatment of choice for intestinal ischemia. However, it has been recently reported that percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stent placement and/or thrombolysis is an effective therapy in various types of mesenteric ischemia. We report six cases of mesenteric ischemia which were successfully treated by percutaneous angioplasty, and review the literature from South Korea.