Peripheral Vascular Disease

Peripheral Vascular Disease, or PVD, affects one in 20 Americans over age 50, yet many people don't even know they have it. The arteries that carry blood to the arms or legs become clogged, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. Catherine Tuite, MD, an interventional radiologist at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, discusses PVD with the Saturday Early Show.

The most common cause of PVD is atherosclerosis, the condition in which the arteries gradually harden and buildup cholesterol and scar tissue. The buildup, called "plaque" clogs the blood vessels. In some cases, blood clots that lodge in the arteries and restrict blood flow may cause PVD.

Painful cramping in the leg or hip is the most common symptom of PVD. It happens when there is not enough blood flowing to the leg muscles during exercise. Tuite says the pain typically goes away when the muscles are rested. Other symptoms of the disease include numbness, tingling or weakness in the leg, burning foot pain, non-healing sore in the leg or foot, color change (reddish or purple color) in skin of leg or foot and loss of hair on leg.

In extreme cases, untreated PVD can lead to gangrene, a serious condition that may require amputation of a leg, foot or toes. PVD could also put a person at risk for heart disease and stroke.

"PVD can affect anyone," says Tuite, but those at most risk include people over age 50, smokers, diabetics, those who are overweight, who don't exercise, have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, and those who have a family history of heart or vascular disease.

People who suspect they may have PVD could take a painless exam in the doctor's office called the ankle-brachial index (ABI). It involves using a special stethoscope that compares the blood pressure in the feet and arms. When the ABI indicates that someone may have PVD, other imaging techniques could be used to confirm the diagnosis. Those techniques include the duplex ultrasound, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and computed tomography (CT) angiography.

Treating PVD could be as simple as making lifestyle changes. Exercising, eating a low-fat diet, stopping smoking and halting medications that affect blood pressure are all steps people could make to stop the progress of the disease.

Nonsurgical procedures could also open up blocked vessels, including angioplasty (using a balloon to inflate the artery), stents (using a tiny metal cylinder to keep the artery open) and thrombolytic therapy (clot-busting drugs). Surgical treatments could include a thrombectomy (using a balloon to pull the clot with it) and bypass grafts (vein used to create a detour around the blocked artery).

For more information on PVD, log onto the Society of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiologists' Web site at www.legsforlife.org.
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