Basic Vascular Pathophysiology of the Hand, Wrist, and Forearm

Vascular disease of the upper extremity consists of a diverse group of conditions of different etiologies and presentations. These conditions can be broken down into the following groups: (a) vaso-occlusive disease, which consists of embolism, thrombosis, aneurysms, atherosclerosis, and vasculitis; (b) vasospastic conditions, including Raynaud’s disease, secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon, acrocyanosis, erythromelalgia, and livedo reticularis; (c) compressive vascular disease; (d) congenital vascular disease; (e) congenital vascular malformations, which include hemangioma and vascular malformation; (f) vascular tumors; and (g) venous occlusive diseases.