Near-infrared spectroscopy grades the severity of intermittent claudication in diabetics more accurately than ankle pressure measurement.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to evaluate near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), combined with a treadmill-walking test, as a method of assessment of intermittent claudication (IC) in diabetic patients.


METHODS
Some 208 symptomatic legs in 153 consecutive patients who complained of calf IC due to atherosclerotic disease were studied with NIRS and resting ankle : brachial pressure index (ABPI).


RESULTS
There was good reproducibility of NIRS measurements. Three distinct types of IC were detected by NIRS. ABPI was significantly different between these three types in non-diabetic patients, but could not grade the severity of IC in diabetic patients. Recovery time (RT) of muscle oxygenation differentiated more accurately between severe and moderate claudication than ABPI in diabetics, although RT and ABPI had similar accuracy in non-diabetics. There was a significant correlation between RT and ABPI in non-diabetic patients and patients who had been diabetic for less than 10 years, while there was no correlation in patients who had had diabetes for over 10 years.


CONCLUSIONS
Measurement of muscle oxygenation during exercise by NIRS graded the severity of IC in diabetic patients more accurately than resting ABPI. An abstract based on this paper was presented to the symposium of the 18th World Congress of the International Union of Angiology in Tokyo, Japan, September 1998
Komiyama
T
T
Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan.
Shigematsu
H
H
Yasuhara
H
H
Muto
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000378:metabolism*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013997:Time Factors
D010100:Oxygen