Ankle–Brachial Index Screening for Peripheral Artery Disease in Asymptomatic Patients between 50 and 70 Years of Age

Abstract

Asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) can be easily identified using the ankle-brachial index (ABI). This study was designed to investigate the benefits of performing ABI in patients aged 50 - 70 years. A random sample of 107 patients was chosen and data on gender, age, risk factors and laboratory tests were collected and the ABI measured. Twenty (19%) patients were found to have PAD. Smoking, high total cholesterol, high triglycerides and diabetes mellitus were shown to be associated with a low ABI and the presence of PAD. Age, diabetes and smoking were identified as the strongest predictors of PAD. Having more risk factors for PAD also predicted a lower ABI. These results suggest that measuring ABI is not necessary in patients aged 50 - 70 years if they only have one risk factor, with the exception of patients with diabetes and those who smoke. In contrast, measuring ABI seems to be useful for patients with multiple risk factors for PAD, although additional studies are required.

Fasting Serum Long-Acting Natriuretic Peptide Correlates With the Ankle Brachial Index in Renal Transplant Recipients

“…[17][18][19] A higher serum triglyceride level has been shown to be associated with a low ABI value in asymptomatic patients between 50 and 70 years of age. 20 Our results also identified higher serum total cholesterol and higher triglyceride levels in the low ABI group, and the serum triglyceride level was negatively correlated with the ABI value for renal transplant recipients. Patients with aortoiliac PAD also have a higher waist circumference and increased waist circumference is an independent risk factor for PAD.…”

Presence of asymptomatic Peripheral Arterial Disease in combination with common risk factors elevates the cardiovascular risk Substantially

“…As CV risks are higher for hypertensive APAD subjects than for APAD alone, screening for APAD in hypertensive patients, and subsequent CV protective management, might be more beneficial. This assumption regarding screening for APAD is also supported in the literature [ [41] , [42] , [43] ].…”

Pain relief and quality-of-life improvement after spinal cord stimulation in painful diabetic polyneuropathy: a pilot study

“…Exclusion of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is particularly important, since PAD is common in patients with diabetes and symptoms may be similar to PDP. Exclusion of PAD by the Fontaine classification is insufficient, 9 since asymptomatic PAD is present in 29% of patients with diabetes 28 and nocturnal pain (by definition Fontaine stage III) is a common symptom in PDP. Therefore, adequate exclusion of PAD is mandatory.…”