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| March 25, 2009: Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI) screening to detect heart attack risks in thousands originally thought to be at low risk... |
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An analysis of almost 1 million Life Line Screening participants confirms the findings recently presented at the Society for Interventional Radiology's annual meeting on the importance of the ankle-brachial index (ABI) to identify individuals previously thought to be at low risk for cardiovascular disease and correctly categorizing them as possibly high-risk.
The ABI measures the ratio between the pressure in your arms and that in your legs. This ratio indicates how well blood flows to the legs. A ratio of less than 0.90 indicates plaque buildup and possible peripheral arterial disease. A ratio of 0.90 or greater is considered normal. The findings presented at the conference came from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of the U.S. population. It looked at 6,292 men and women ages 40 and older with no known history of heart disease, stroke, diabetes or atherosclerotic vascular disease. It found that the use of the Ankle ankle-brachial index, a screening for peripheral arterial disease, has the potential to prevent heart attacks in thousands originally thought to be at low risk. Life Line Screening's data supports these findings. Analyzing data from almost 900,000 participants from 2007, Life Line Screening found that 474,000 would be considered low-risk based on a traditional Framingham score. Of that "low-risk" group, more than 9,000 scored positive for peripheral arterial disease, indicating the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis. Similar to those in the NHANES study, Life Line Screening participants are traditionally age 50 and older and are asymptomatic. "We are pleased to see the recent findings presented at the conference reflect our own internal data," says Chief Medical Officer Andrew Manganaro, MD, FACS, FACC. "We have long suspected that the low risk indicated by a Framingham may conceal the true risk as revealed by other screenings such as the ankle-brachial index. We share the researchers' sentiment that correctly identifying risk is crucial to instituting lifestyle changes and medical management before a serious health event occurs or more costly treatment options are necessary." E.&O.E. |
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