Vnitr Lek 2024, 70(3):145-150 | DOI: 10.36290/vnl.2024.031

Mortality associated with peripheral artery disease of the legs

Jiří Spáčil, Jaroslava Svobodová

Cévní ordinace Spamed, s. r. o., Praha

Introduction: Data on mortality due to peripheral artery disease of the legs (PAD) in the Czech Republic is unknown. We used the set of patients with PAD of our outpatient facility to select those with known dates and causes of death based on data of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic.

Results: Of the group comprising 390 patients with PAD caused by atherosclerosis, 145 patients died. The mean time from the first examination at our facility to death was 6.13 years. The mean follow-up time of surviving patients was 6.99 years. Mean annual mortality was 6.25% (95 CI 4.25-8.26%). Forty four percent of the patients died of cardiovascular disease (I00-I99 according to the International Classification of Diseases). Twenty eight percent of the patients died of neoplasms (C00-D48) while malignant neoplasm of bronchus and lung was the most common cause. In patients with PAD, death directly correlates with age, history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, elevated systolic pressure and decreased ankle brachial index. A smaller risk of death was observed in cases where only 1 leg was affected (less advanced disease) and surprisingly in smokers.

Conclusion: Annual mortality of the 390 patients with PAD is 6.25%. Forty four percent of patients died of cardiovascular disease and 28% died of neoplasms.

Keywords: peripheral artery disease of the legs, mortality.

Accepted: April 26, 2024; Published: May 6, 2024  Show citation