Abstract
In 1878, Winiwarter used a microscope and reported a case of 57 year-old man demonstrating Buerger disease. After that, 134 years passed. Leo Buerger and Edgar V. Allen strongly suggested that Buerger disease is an infectious disease without any doubt. Also, an etiologic point is the luminal infectious thrombus, which is thought to be the core of the disease. Many etiological factors were proposed and then discarded after academic scrutiny, but two big discoveries were made in 2005 and 2008. Namely, periodontal bacteria DNA was found in the occluded arteries of 93% of patients with Buerger disease, and periodontal bacteria (typical weak bacteria) were found to dwell in the platelets. Using these evidences, supported by genetic and epidemiological facts, we could almost explain the pathogenesis or clinical course of Buerger disease, which had been already studied.
