title: Peripheral artery disease. Part 2: medical and endovascular treatment.
abstract: The treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) focuses on risk factor modification, cardiovascular event reduction, limb viability, and symptom improvement. Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus should all be controlled to recommended target levels, and smoking cessation is vital. Antiplatelet therapies, such as aspirin or clopidogrel, should be administered in all patients unless contraindicated. Whenever possible, patients who present with claudication should be offered a regimen comprised of both medical and exercise therapy, which often results in substantial improvement in symptoms. For patients presenting with more-advanced disease, such as acute limb ischemia, critical limb ischemia, and severely-limiting symptoms of PAD, revascularization is often necessary. As a result of the rapid evolution in endovascular revascularization technology and expertise, many patients with PAD can be treated percutaneously. Therefore, in this Review, we will focus on medical therapy and endovascular revascularization of patients with PAD, with reference to surgical bypass in specific clinical scenarios.
authors.affiliation: The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute & Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Cardiovascular Health Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1033, New York, NY 10029, USA.
authors.forename: Mitchell D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: Joe F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rosenfield
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Olin
mesh_terms: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D057510:Endovascular Procedures; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D006801:Humans; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D011314:Preventive Health Services; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents