John R. Bartholomew, MD Section Head, Vascular Medicine, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH
Jeffrey W. Olin, DO Professor of Medicine and Director of Vascular Medicine, Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY
Correspondence: John R. Bartholomew, MD, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, S60, Cleveland, OH 44195; barthoj@ccf.org
Dr. Bartholomew reported that he has received honoraria from GlaxoSmithKline for teaching and speaking.
Dr. Olin reported that he has received consulting fees from the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership for serving on a medical advisory panel and has received research support and consulting fees from Genzyme.
ABSTRACT
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a systemic atherosclerotic process for which the major risk factors are similar to those for atherosclerosis in the carotid, coronary, and other vascular beds. Among the traditional risk factors for PAD, those with the strongest associations are advanced age, smoking, and diabetes mellitus. More recently, a number of nontraditional risk factors for PAD have also been recognized. This article briefly reviews the pathophysiology of PAD and the evidence supporting established and emerging risk factors for its development.
