Occlusion of the dorsalis pedis artery in two young women.

Abstract

To the Editor:— Two 20-year-old females with pain in the foot and toe on one side associated with activity were treated at the Student Health Service. There was no history of trauma; neither smoked; both frequently went barefoot as is the current style on campus. Both patients were taking oral contraceptive medication, one for four years and the other for one year. It is estimated that one third of the 1,300 females (30 out of 86 in two 1968 surveys) on campus are on a regimen of oral contraceptives. Physical findings were a loss of the dorsalis pedis pulse, slower filling after blanching, and a cooler foot on the involved side. Posterior tibial pulses were equal bilaterally. In the first patient, after discontinuing medication, the pain and coldness disappeared gradually over a four-month period. The pedal pulse remains absent. The second patient's symptoms are subsiding one month after discontinuance of