A comparison of the Doppler-derived maximal systolic acceleration versus the ankle-brachial pressure index or detecting and quantifying peripheral arterial occlusive disease in diabetic patients.

AIM

The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the Doppler derived maximal systolic acceleration (ACCmax) as a novel technique for evaluating peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) in patients with diabetes mellitus, who are known for a falsely elevated ankle-brachial index (ABI).

METHODS

In this retrospective analysis ACCmax was measured at ankle level in a series of 163 consecutive patients referred to the vascular laboratory for initial assessment of PAOD. Patients were classified according to the presence or absence of diabetes. In the non-diabetic patients PAOD was defined as ABI < or =0.90. This group was used to establish the association between ACCmax and ABI in a linear regression model. The result was then used to predict the presence or absence of PAOD in the diabetic patients.

RESULTS

The authors examined 301 lower limbs. The study group consisted of 166 limbs of patients without diabetes and 135 limbs of patients with diabetes. PAOD was present in 52% of limbs in the nondiabetic group versus 59% of limbs in the diabetic group (ABI < or =0.90, or in case of non-compliant vessels toe-brachial index (TBI) < or =0.70). An ACCmax cut-off value of >10 m/s2 was found to be highly predictive for the exclusion of PAOD (negative predictive value 95%). In addition, the ACCmax cut-off value of <6.5 m/s2 was highly predictive for the detection of PAOD (positive predictive value 99%). A strong quadratic association was found between ACCmax and ABI in the non-diabetic group (R2=0.85). In the diabetic patients R2 values were 0.81 and 0.79 after ABI and TBI measurement respectively.

CONCLUSION

DUS-derived ACCmax is an accurate marker that could offer significant benefits for the diagnosis of PAOD, especially in diabetic patients.