Leg ulcers in peripheral arterial disease (arterial leg ulcers): impaired wound healing above the threshold of chronic critical limb ischemia.
BACKGROUND
Peripheral arterial disease is the only identifiable etiology in approximately 10% of leg ulcers. Clinical data on the management of these chronic wounds are scarce.


OBJECTIVE
We attempted to outline the threshold of systolic ankle pressure and ankle-brachial-index (ABI) below which arterial leg ulcers can occur and to outline the indication for revascularization in arterial leg ulcers.


METHODS
Diagnostic and outcome analysis was performed for 26 consecutive patients with arterial leg ulcers. We calculated sensitivities, specificities, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the identification of arterial leg ulcers among all 223 consecutive leg ulcer patients within a 3-year period, as well as the ROC curve for patients who required revascularization.


RESULTS
The systolic ankle pressure was 88 (18-130) mm Hg (median; 95% confidence interval) and the ABI was 0.60 (0.15-0.86), respectively. Eighteen patients (69%) were subjected to revascularization. By the end of the study, 24 patients (92%) healed completely, 1 improved (90% wound closure), and 1 patient had to undergo below-knee amputation for chronic osteomyelitis. During this study, the ankle pressure and ABI were poor in distinguishing those patients who required revascularization from those who healed without revascularization.


CONCLUSIONS
Most arterial leg ulcers do not meet the criteria of chronic critical limb ischemia, but they do not heal under conservative measures, either. A majority of these patients benefit from revascularization and should, therefore, be referred for arterial duplex ultrasound investigation or angiography. In our study, an ankle pressure below 110 mm Hg identified all patients (100%) who were subjected to revascularization procedures. However, controlled clinical studies are required to find the systolic ankle pressure and ABI below which revascularization can be recommended to speed up the healing time.
Hafner
J
J
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland.
Schaad
I
I
Schneider
E
E
Seifert
B
B
Burg
G
G
Cassina
P C
PC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D014945:Wound Healing