Ankle--brachial index: a marker of both peripheral arterial disease and systemic atherosclerosis as well as a predictor of vascular events.

摘要

Signorelli et al in this issue of Angiology screened almost 3500 asymptomatic individuals (mean age 61.3 +-9.7 years) using the ankle- brachial index (ABI) to detect unrecognized peripheral arterial disease (PAD). An ABI <0.9 was considered diagnostic. A total of 80 (2.3%) participants had unrecognized PAD. Of interest, among those individuals with unrecognized PAD, 5% (n = 4) also had >75% asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis, whereas 12.5% (n = 8) had an ejection fraction <50%. These results confirm previous findings, suggesting that an ABI <0.9 is not only a marker of unrecognized PAD but also a predictor of generalized atherosclerosis.