Management of patients with severe, coexistent coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease.

The coexistence of severe coronary artery and peripheral vascular lesions is not uncommon. Although diagnostic and sequential therapeutic techniques are standardized, the priority of surgical treatment is unresolved. Eight cases are reported in which simultaneous surgical correction of coronary atherosclerosis and carotid atherosclerosis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, or aortoiliac atherosclerosis was accomplished with success. Two additional cases demonstrate the complications which can occur when coexistent lesions are not corrected simultaneously. The surgical techniques employed are discussed. Because of these results, a further clinical trial seems warranted.