title: Ankle brachial index is a valuable index of the severity of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the ankle brachial index (ABI) and the severity of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS).
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 138 patients with a complete clinical record were enrolled in this study. The severity of ARAS was judged by renal artery angiography and the ABI was measured according to the method recommended by the American Heart Association.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic renal dysfunction and hyperlipidaemia were significantly increased in the ARAS group (p < 0.05 or 0.01), and the ARAS patients were significantly older than the non-ARAS patients (p < 0.05). There were 31 cases of mild renal artery stenosis, 26 of midrange stenosis, 14 of severe stenosis and 16 of bilateral stenosis. In total, 104 cases had a normal ABI, while 34 cases had an abnormal ABI (≤0.9). Abnormal ABI values were not significantly correlated with mild ARAS, but the abnormal ABI value in patients with midrange and severe ARAS was approximately four times the normal ABI in these patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ABI is a valuable predictive index of midrange to severe ARAS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Hunan Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Qun
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hong-Bo
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias; D006973:Hypertension; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012078:Renal Artery Obstruction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index