title: [Ankle-brachial index: a marker of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular prognosis].
abstract: This article is the second part of a general review on ankle-brachial index (ABI). After stressing on the interest of ABI for the diagnosis, screening and follow-up of peripheral arterial disease, this second part focuses on the usefulness of ABI in the evaluation of cardiovascular prognosis. Many large scale epidemiological studies evidenced the predictive abilities of ABI in general population or in high-risk subgroups, such as diabetics. A low ABI corresponds to a risk excess of total and cardiovascular mortality, cardiac events and stroke. The interest of ABI in this issue overpasses the simple increased probability of presence of concomitant atherosclerotic lesions in a patient with peripheral arterial disease. Beyond the primary prevention, a low ABI in patients with coronary artery disease appears to be of poorer prognosis. In the future, according to the results of ongoing studies, it is possible that ABI measurement and the detection of any abnormal result would be followed by a more aggressive therapeutic management.
authors.affiliation: Unité fonctionnelle de médecine vasculaire, service de chirurgie thoracique et cardiovasculaire et de médecine vasculaire, hôpital Dupuytren, CHU de Limoges. aboyans@unilim.fr
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Aboyans
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lacroix
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferrières
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laskar
mesh_terms: D000842:Ankle; D001132:Arm; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013599:Systole