engleski

Peripheral Arterial Disease

Introduction: Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) is a progresiv disease caused by atherosclerotic obliterative process of infrarenal part of abdominal aorta, pelvic arteries and arteries of the legs. Atherosclerosis is a condition in which fatty plaques form in the inside walls of blood vessels. Other processes, such as blood clots, further restrict blood flow in the blood vessels. All the symptoms and consequences of peripheral vascular disease are related to restricted blood flow. It is present as a clinical spectrum – an asymptomatic disease, claudication or critical ischemia. Co-existing vascular disease includes coronary disease in 40-60%, cerebral artery disease in 26-50% and renal disease in 23-42% cases. Method: We searched current literature published on Medline dealing with PAD prevalence, treatment and clasification. Results: There are several objectives we would like to emphasize in this paper: 1.High prevalence (10%–25% in people aged over 55 and increases with age) and incidence of PAD (from about 0.3% per year for men aged 40–55 years to about 1% per year for men aged over 75 years) 2.Risk factors for PAD are: smoking, obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, race (higher incidence in Afro-americans), age (over the age of 50) , gender (male), increase in inflammation parameters (CRP, fibrinogen, homocystein), hyperviscosity and hypercoagulable states, chronic renal insufficiency 3.Most patients (70%–80%) are symptom-free and the rest have only mild claudication. 4.Despite its prevalence and cardiovascular risk implications, only 25 % of PAD patients are undergoing treatment 5.However, only a minority ever require revascularisation or amputation 6.First line of therapy is avoidance of risk factors which are the same as in all other atherosclerosis related diseases and includes some changes in life style (smoking restriction, low fat diet, physical activity etc.) Conclusion: All patients with simptoms related to atherosclerotic disease should be considered as possible PAD, because early diagnosis and treatment can prevent critical ischaemia and its consequences.

Peripheral Arterial Disease

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