The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is an efficient tool for objectively documenting the presence of lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The predictive factors of cardiovascular events and diabetic foot ulcer were not clear from the ABI examination in Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).
We enrolled 482 patients with type 2 DM who regularly visited the outpatient department of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and received ABI as well as brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) examinations from 2010 to 2017. Age, gender, PAD symptoms, comorbidities, family history of chronic diseases, lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption, and exercise), height, weight, waist circumference, monofilament testing and foot ulcer status were studied.
There were 104 (22%) patients (mean age, 67.8 years) with the ABI <1.0. These patients with low ABI (ABI<1.0) had a significantly older age (p=0.001), higher delta PWV (p<0.001), higher rates of stroke (p=0.007), myocardial infarction (p=0.016), and foot ulcer (p=0.039). In a multivariable analysis model, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) for myocardial infarction, stroke, and foot ulcers associated with low ABI were 1.219 (0.397-3.743, p=0.729), 1.204 (0.556-2.610, p=0.638), and 2.712 (1.199-6.133, p=0.017), respectively. The patients with low PWV (PWV<1400 cm/s) were significantly younger (p<0.001) and had a lower rate of hypertension (p<0.001), and higher percentages of stroke (p=0.027) and dialysis (p=0.041) family history.
Low ABI was associated with cardiovascular events and diabetic foot ulcer independently in patients with type 2 DM.