title: The incidence of unsuspected peripheral arterial disease amongst surgical patients in Hong Kong.
abstract: A survey of surgical in-patients in Hong Kong has shown that subclinical peripheral arterial disease caused by atherosclerosis and detected by palpation is not uncommon and is similar in incidence to that reported in European populations. However, only a small proportion of affected patients had any associated symptoms. Reduced or absent ankle and ulnar pulses occurred with the same frequency in our patients as in those in Europe. Cigarette smoking does not appear to be associated with symptomatic arterial disease in the local population in Hong Kong.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000842:Ankle; D001158:Arteries; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011674:Pulse; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D014457:Ulna; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*