Mesenteric ischaemia--a diagnostic triad?

An elderly man with ischaemic heart and peripheral vascular disease presented with a 3-month history of increasingly severe postprandial epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and weight loss, associated with gastroscopic evidence of superficial antral ulceration and discoloration. The patient died shortly after admission to hospital. Autopsy showed evidence of mesenteric vascular disease and ischaemic bowel. The literature on chronic mesenteric ischaemia is briefly reviewed, and the role of arteriography is discussed.