Management of concomitant occlusive disease of the supraaortic and lower-limb arteries.

Angiography examinations of the extracranial cerebral arteries in patients with peripheral occlusive disease of the lower limbs indicate cerebro-vascular disease more often than might be assumed from clinical-neurological examinations alone. In total, 61.5% of the patients examined showed lesions of the extracranial cerebral arteries which necessitated an operation. The elimination of risks in an operation requiring extensive peripheral vessel reconstruction necessitates initial supraaortic vessel reconstruction. Of the 48 patients with reconstructions in both vascular systems, none has suffered any postoperative neurological dysfunction. Concomitant occlusive disease of the supraaortic and peripheral arteries should not be treated simultaneously.