Frequency of peripheral arterial disease in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome at a tertiary care centre in Karachi.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency of symptomatic and asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) at a tertiary care center in Karachi.


METHODS
A total of 350 consecutive patients presenting with ACS were recruited in this cross-sectional study. All patients were enrolled from the emergency department of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi.


RESULTS
PAD, determined by presence of claudicant symptoms on interview and/or an ankle-brachial index (ABI) score less than 0.90, was present in 17.7% of patients, of whom 9.1% had no symptoms of intermittent claudication (IC) and 11.7% had no rest pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Concomitant PAD is frequent among ACS patients in our study. ABI screening is simple and yields a high proportion of patients with extensive atherosclerosis who may require more aggressive atherosclerosis risk management.
National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Karachi, Pakistan.
Rehan Omar
RO
Siddiqi
Mohammed Ishaque
MI
Paracha
Mohammed
M
Hammad
D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors