Peripheral vascular disease in patients with symptomatic cerebrovascular ischemic events. Is there a need for routine screening?

Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease affecting cardiac, cerebral and peripheral arteries. Patients with known PAD have a 15–35% increased risk of having significant (>50%) concurrent internal carotid artery stenosis. The opposite correlation has not been established, but would be of clinical benefit, since the presence of known PAD increases the risk of death from stroke to 2–5 times that of the general population. Patients with concurrent symptomatic ischemic cerebrovascular disease and PAD may represent a particularly high-risk group, and the presence of PAD may directly influence management decisions such as…