The Incidence and Prevalence of Thromboangiitis Obliterans in Taiwan: A Nationwide, Population-based Analysis of Data Collected from 2002 to 2011

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To estimate the incidence and prevalence of thromboangiitis obliterans in Taiwan in the period spanning from 2002 to 2011.METHODS:We identified all incident and prevalent cases with a diagnosis of thromboangiitis obliterans (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code 443.1) in the period spanning from 2002 to 2011 using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. We calculated the age- and sex-specific incidence and prevalence rates of thromboangiitis obliterans during the study period.RESULTS:From 2002 to 2011, 158 patients were diagnosed with thromboangiitis obliterans; of these, 76% were men. Most (63%) of the patients were <50 years old when they were first diagnosed. After reaching 20 years of age, the incidence rate increased with age and peaked among those aged ≥60 years. The average incidence rate of thromboangiitis obliterans during the 2002–2011 period was 0.068 per 105 years. The incidence of thromboangiitis obliterans decreased with time, from 0.10 per 105 years in 2002 to 0.04 per 105 years in 2011. The prevalence increased from 0.26 × 10−5 in 2002 to 0.65 × 10−5 in 2011.CONCLUSION:This is the first epidemiologic study of thromboangiitis obliterans using claims data from a general population in Taiwan. This nationwide, population-based study found that the incidence and prevalence of thromboangiitis obliterans in Taiwan in the 2002–2011 period were lower than those in other countries before 2000. This study also revealed a trend of decreasing incidence with simultaneous increasing prevalence of thromboangiitis obliterans in Taiwan from 2002 to 2011.

The incidence, prevalence, and survival rate of thromboangiitis obliterans in Korea: a retrospective population-based study

“…TAO was diagnosed more commonly in males than females. In our results, males had about a two times higher incidence of TAO than females, which is consistent with the higher male distribution of TAO found in Taiwan (80.5%) (8).…”

An evaluation of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic and predictive marker in thromboangiitis obliterans

“…The outcomes of surgical revascularization are not promising, although this can be tried in selected cases. Growth factor application, sympathectomy, omentopexy and spinal cord stimulation and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are other additional therapeutic options (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”

“…TAO is typically more commonly seen in middle-aged males of low socioeconomic status. In epidemiological terms it is more widespread in the peoples of the Middle and Far East compared to North America and Europe (1,2,4).…”

“…Although the etiological causes are not known for certain, there is a powerful correlation with smoking. The disease exhibits segmental occlusion of the small or medium arteries, veins and nerves of the extremities (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). In contrast to other forms of vasculitis, there are no laboratory tests that can assist in the diagnosis or prognosis of the disease (6).…”

“…Tissue hypoxia is the main source of the pain and symptoms. The course may conclude with amputation in untreated cases (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6). Numerous recent papers have described the neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a potential early marker of morbidity and mortality in cases with accompanying ischemic and inflammatory events (7)(8)(9).…”