ABSTRACT
Introduction Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a type of localized systemic atherosclerosis/atherothrombotic disease affecting about 12% of the adult population in the US, and is connected with primary causes of mortality like myocardial infarction and stroke. In a study evaluating coronary artery disease in peripheral vascular patients, more than 90% of patients had significant coronary artery disease, as revealed by coronary angioplasty.1 The strong association between PAD and coronary disease explains why about 80% of the mortality in PAD patients is due to cardiovascular events. Early diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is assessed by measuring the resting and post-exercise systolic blood pressure in the ankle and the arm with a Doppler ultrasonic probe. The measurement is made in the dorsalis pedis, posterior tibial, and brachial arteries after the patient rests supine for 10 to 15 minutes. An abnormal ankle-brachial index (ABI), an index of severity of underlying PAD, is defined as < 0.90 at rest.
