Buerger's disease in Nepal.

At Tansen Mission Hospital in the middle hill area of Nepal the 4-year discharge data base was surveyed for amputations due to thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease). An incidence of 693/100,000 admissions was found. This is 50 times higher than the North American incidence. We investigated causative factors by means of in-depth interviews about genetic background, life style, diet and geography. In addition to tobacco use which was 100%, we found only extreme poverty, a diet of mostly maize, and residence in the Himalayan foothills as consistent co-factors.