ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the value of measuring ankle brachial index (ABI) for diagnosing peripheral arterial disease(PAD) compared with conventional digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as the reference standard.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 383 consecutive inpatients (245 male, mean age 64.1 +/- 11.7 years) underwent both conventional DSA and ABI measurements.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The rate of statin intervention was 90.9%, ACEI 69.2%, antiplatelet 96.6% and beta-blockers 67.9%. The intravascular stenosis was classified into six degrees: normal, < 30%, 30% - 49%, 50% - 69%, 70% - 89% and > or = 90%. Compared to the traditional gold standard (DSA) in diagnosis PDA, the ABI value decreased in proportion to the severity of PAD (the ABI value was 1.08 +/- 0.11, 1.05 +/- 0.16, 0.99 +/- 0.17, 0.66 +/- 0.24, 0.55 +/- 0.28 and 0.54 +/- 0.00 respectively in the six ranks). There was a significant correlation between DSA and ABI in diagnosis PAD.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>ABI measurement is an accurate and reliable non-invasive alternative to conventional DSA in the assessment of lower extremity arteries in patients with peripheral arterial disease.</p>