Peripheral arterial disease of the lower limbs in Moroccan hypertensive non-diabetic patients

Abstract

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) of the lower limbs is only an aspect of a general vascular disease; PAD announces cardiovascular accidents. Thus, the early screening of PAD is a major issue. To evaluate the prevalence of PAD of the lower limbs in asymptomatic patients with hypertension and to determine the risk factors or associations of risk factors most frequently responsible of pathological (< 0.9) ankle-brachial index (ABI). We conducted a prospective survey including 273 patients from November 2016 to December 2017 in our department. The mean population's age was 62.09 years (27–88 years), with a male predominance gender (67,76%). The prevalence of PAD was 28.94%. Risk factors or association of risk factors that were significantly associated with PAD (Chi 2 Pearson test) were: the male gender (72%), tobacco use (56%), obesity (BMI ≥ 30) 15.8%, dyslipidemia and grade-3 hypertension (23.4%). PAD of the lower limbs is a particular location of the atheromatous process as well as a marker of its diffusion. As a result of this study, we recommend the screening of asymptomatic PAD in all hypertensive patients by measuring the ankle-brachial index.