Prognostic Impact of Multivessel Disease on Acute Lower Limb Ischemia Patients: A Cohort Study

Abstract

Acute lower limb ischemia (ALI) is closely linked to conditions like diabetes mellitus and peripheral arterial disease, as well as the presence of polyvascular disease (PVD). The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of PVD on perioperative outcomes in patients with ALI. Among 161 patients, these were categorized into subgroups based on their PVD status: control (N=81), PVD1 (single arterial bed involvement) (N=61), and PVD2 (coronary and cerebrovascular) (N=18). Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis were performed. The mean age was 71.17±11.6. Higher prevalences of diabetes mellitus (n=21, 33.9% in PVD1; n=8, 44.4% in PVD2) and hypertension (n=55, 88.7% in PVD1; n=16, 88.9% in PVD2) were reported for the PVD groups, when comparing to controls, who registered 13 (16.0%) and 41 (50.6%) individuals, respectively. Anticoagulant therapy and acute myocardial infarction were more common in the PVD1 and PVD2 groups (p=0.005 and p=0.001). Non-cardiovascular mortality rates were significantly higher in the PVD groups, with 24.2% in PVD1 and 33.3% in PVD2 compared to 11.1% in the control group (p = 0.033). The study concluded that PVD significantly impacts the status of ALI patients, emphasizing the need for tailored, multidisciplinary care.