VietNamNet Bridge – Mr. Cil Ha Toan, 40, had his legs cut off by one third because of gangrene at HCM City-based Cho Ray Hospital. Doctors said his feet were dead because of over-smoking.

Toan was brought to the Cho Ray Hospital on July 13 when all of his toes were in caseation. “To save Toan from liver and kidney failure caused by toxins from the wounds, we had to cut off one third of the patient’s legs,” said Doctor Phan Quoc Hung.

Two days after the operation, the patient recovered but his fingers showed symptoms of caseation.

Doctors said that Toan suffered from buerger disease - a recurring progressive inflammation and thrombosis of small and medium arteries and veins of the hands and feet. It is strongly associated with use of tobacco products, primarily from smoking, but also from smokeless tobacco.

“We have treated many similar cases. In the most serious cases, patients suffered from leg gangrene,” Dr. Hung said.

Toan said he had smoked for 32 years. He burnt around one cigarette pack a day. “I had pins, needles and ulcers in my legs but I did not go to hospital because I did not have money,” he said.

Toan lives in Duc Trong district, only 40km from Da Lat City, in Lam Dong province. He was brought to the Lam Dong Province General Hospital on July 14, with two feet being dead and giving out smells. The patient was moved to Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City for treatment.

Compiled by Le Ha