The PAD patients had a high risk of suffering heart attacks or strokes in the next two years, Hirsch said. If PAD had been severe enough to cause amputation of parts of the foot or leg, the risk of a stroke or heart attack increased by 50 percent compared to other patients with heart disease, Hirsch said. Criqui said the presence of PAD, even among those who don't have leg pain, can be measured accurately and non-invasively by determining the ratio of blood pressure in the arm and in the ankle. If the ABI is lower than 0.9, a patient has impaired blood flow in the legs and has a 95 percent risk of having PAD, he said. Criqui estimated that up to 20 percent of these patients have the condition.
Thrombi can block narrowed blood vessels, causing heart attacks or strokes or leg pain.
Surgical options are alsoavailable, he said. However, Hirsch said most primary care doctors who see patients with legpain caused by PAD do not treat the condition. The public, physicians and the media. He said he would like to see the time when patients were as aware of their ABI as they are of high blood pressure and high cholesterol numbers. PAD is more common and more mortal than Hodgkin's disease or breastcancer.