Bangladeshi patient undergoes vascular reassessment and leg surgery in Zhejiang

A Bangladeshi businessman identified by the pseudonym Salih underwent surgery on both legs at the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, in late 2024. The hospital’s February 12, 2025 account describes how reassessment traced multiple arterial blockages to a clot attached to the aortic arch.

Reassessing six years of symptoms

Salih developed leg pain in 2018, shortly after turning 50. After seeking care in Bangladesh and India, he was diagnosed with atherosclerotic arterial occlusive disease. Antiplatelet medication initially helped, but pain on walking worsened again two years later. In 2024, symptoms also affected his right leg, followed by pain and coldness in his left arm. A business contact in Zhejiang suggested the hospital.

Vascular surgeon Li Donglin reviewed his history and arranged lower-limb CT angiography on the day of consultation. It showed emboli in both legs. Heart examinations were normal, so the team continued looking for the source rather than attributing the blockages to a cardiac clot. Review of the available investigations identified an aortic-arch mural thrombus, from which fragments had travelled downstream.

Combining clot removal and balloon treatment

The longstanding clots were firm and adhered to the arterial walls, making removal difficult. In a hybrid operating theatre, the team combined surgical thrombectomy through an arterial incision with balloon angioplasty to remove the old material and widen the vessel lumen.

Both legs had substantial symptoms. After an overall safety assessment, the surgeons treated them during the same operation, which lasted from midday into the evening. The hospital reported improved blood flow in both legs after the clots were removed.

Discharge with continuing care

Salih could walk on the second postoperative day, and the temperature of his feet gradually improved. His reported itinerary was an outpatient consultation on day one, admission on day three, surgery on day four and discharge on day seven. He stayed in the hospital’s international healthcare centre ward.

Li advised continuing anticoagulant medication and regular follow-up examinations to reduce recurrence. The one-week sequence describes this patient’s care; it is not a standard appointment or recovery timetable for other patients.