title: [Preoperative evaluation of the vascular patient].
abstract: Periferal vascular disease usually results from a systemic entity in which atherothrombosis develops in different vascular territories, having common risk factors. It is hence usual to find coexistent, often subclinical, coronary artery disease, which is responsible for most of perioperatory morbidity and mortality in patients submitted to vascular surgery. An adequate preoperatory risk stratification must be accomplished, having in mind the clinical manifestations, risk factors, comorbidities, functional capacity and global left ventricular systolic function of the patient. He should be included in one of three different subgroups: low, high or intermediate risk, which might reinforce the need for further testing, most often aiming at the detection of coronary artery disease and foresee the short, medium and long term outcome. This strategy is very important and it is in part due to it and to better medical/surgical and anesthetic care that the surgical results have markedly improved in recent years. In this paper a state of the art is done of the guidelines to follow and the results of several studies performed on this subject. The role of methods to detect coronary ischemia is remarked, using either nuclear or echocardiographic techniques for this purpose.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Cardiologia, Hospital de Santa Marta, Lisboa.
authors.forename: Luísa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Branco
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011300:Preoperative Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery