ABSTRACT
The scale of the problem In the United Kingdom, there is a minimum of 720 000 people suffering with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD)1 and there are 102 000 newly diagnosed cases of PAD annually.2 The risk of a cardiovascular event (myocardial infarction [MI], stroke or cardiovascular death) for people with PAD is far greater than the risk of amputation. We know that people with PAD are six times more likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack than those people who do not have PAD.3 The 1-year risk of dying or being hospitalised as a result of a stroke or heart attack for people with PAD is 21.14%, compared with 15.2% for people with coronary heart disease (CHD).4
