Claudicación intermitente en el adulto joven: arteriopatía no arteriosclerótica

Abstract

Summary Aim Intermittent claudication in young adults (ICYA) of a non-arteriosclerotic etiology is an infrequent disorder and this means that on many occasions diagnosis is delayed in generally active patients, leading to incapacity and loss of productivity. The purpose of this paper is to describe the different non-arteriosclerotic processes that can trigger off intermittent claudication (IC) in this group of patients, and to highlight its differential characteristics. Development The non-arteriosclerotic pathologies that can produce ICYA are described, and a young adult is taken as being anyone under the age of 40. Due to their affecting the system as a whole, we did not include vasculitis, except for thromboangiitis obliterans and Takayasu's disease, since they very often only occurred with claudication. We consider anomalies arising during the course of embryological development, such as popliteal entrapment (PE), adventitial cyst disease and persistent sciatic artery; stenoses and obstructions of the abdominal aorta: aortic coarctation, aortic hypoplasia and Takayasu's disease; arterial lesions in those who practise sports: functional popliteal entrapment, adductors (Hunter's) canal syndrome, dissection of the external iliac, endofibrosis of the external iliac and chronic compartmental syndrome; ergotism; thromboangiitis obliterans; as well as: fibromuscular dysplasia, traumatic obstruction and actinic arthritis. Conclusions Knowledge of the different causes of non-arteriosclerotic ICYA prevents delays in diagnoses and allows treatment to be started at an early stage, which will help this group of patients to make a quicker return to their normal activity.