All blood vessels outside the heart are considered peripheral blood vessels. PVD, also known as peripheral vascular disease, is caused by blocked arteries that are not inside the heart.

What is Peripheral Vascular Disease?

You may be aware that coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs when the blood vessels in the heart become blocked. All blood vessels outside the heart are considered to be "peripheral" vessels. Peripheal vascular disease (PVD) consequently arises when arteries external to the heart are blocked.

Every part of your body receives blood via arteries. Blood flow in clogged vessels can be slowed down or even stopped by the blockages that lead to PVD. Larger arteries are where it is most prevalent. Although it can affect the arteries in your arms, neck, and kidneys, PVD is most frequently found in arteries in the legs.

Additionally, there may be a higher likelihood that you have blockages in other arteries if one of your peripheral arteries is blocked. For instance, your doctor might check to see if you have blockages in your neck's carotid artery, which raises your risk of having a stroke. Or, your doctor might want to check your coronary arteries (in your heart) for blockages, which up your risk of having a heart attack.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD), atherosclerosis, and PVD are additional names for the condition. (Arterosclerosis is a term that refers to the gradual blockage of all arteries, not just those that run along the periphery).

What is the cause of Peripheral Vascular Disease?

Plaque accumulation in your peripheral arteries is the root cause of peripheral vascular disease (PVD). In your body, fatty compounds like cholesterol form plaque. Over a period of years, the plaque gradually accumulates. But over time, artery-narrowing plaque can harden and constrict them. PDV can slow down or stop blood flow and obstruct the delivery of oxygen to your tissues.

Other factors besides cholesterol may be at play. The following risk factor is typically also a factor in PVD. Your chances of getting an arterial blockage increase as your risk factors increase.

Risk factors you can change

• Eating high-fat foods
• Lack of exercise
• Smoking
• Stress
• Excess weight

Risk factors your cannot change

• Age – the risk increases with age
• Heredity – the risk increases if there is family history of heart or blood vessel disease.

Other health conditions that can increase your risk

• Deabetes
• High blood pressure

To learn more, go to the Risk Factors section and the Health Conditions section (to learn about diabetes and blood pressure).

What are the Symptoms of Peripheral Vascular Disease?

Many persons with peripheral vascular disease (PVD) don't have any symptoms. However, because the blocked artery restricts blood flow to the region's tissues, you can experience one or more of the following signs:

• Dull, cramping pain in hips, thighs, or calf muscle (called claudication)
• Buttock pain
• Numbness or tingling in the leg, foot, or toes.
• Changes in skin color (pale, bluish, or reddish discoloration)
• Changes in skin temperatura, particularly cold feet
• Hair loss on your feet or legs
• Impotence or erectile dysfuntion
• Infection or sores that do not heal

Tests

One or more of the tests described below may be recommended by your doctor to determine whether you have peripheral vascular disease (PVD). You might undergo some of the tests to see if you are also experiencing blockages in the coronary arteries, which provide blood to your heart. The results of the test may also aid your doctor in determining the best course of action for you.

You may occasionally be referred to specialists for diagnosis, testing, and occasionally treatment. Visit the section on your treatment team for more information.

• Angiogram
• Ankle Brachial Index
• Doppler Ultrasound
• Electrocardiagram (ECG or EKG)
• MRI
• Stethoscope Test

Your doctor can use a stethoscope to listen to your blood flow to see whether any peripheral blood arteries are blocked. A blockage may be indicated by an unusual whooshing sound, known as a bruit, as the blood flows through the artery. A stethoscope examination is a useful initial test. Additionally, your doctor might request follow-up exams.

Angiogram

What is an angiogram?

An angiogram is a image of your blood vessels, similar to an x-ray. An angiogram shows:

• How well the blood flows through the arteries
• Whether blockages exist – and if so, their location

An angiogram might be ordered if your doctor suspects blockages in:

• Your heart´s arteries (called coronary arteries)
• Arteries outside your heart (called peripheral arteries)
• Arteries in your neck (called carotid arteries)

The cardiac catheterization precedes the angiography. A catheter, a tiny, flexible tube, is introduced into a blood vessel during a cardiac catheterization. Your doctor inserts the catheter and injects a dye to start the angiography. The dye makes it possible for images of your blood arteries to appear on a monitor, sort of like highways on a map. If the angiogram reveals a clogged artery, your doctor might be able to perform a technique like balloon angioplasty to fix it right away.

What can I expect?

Your examination will take place in a "cath lab." You take off your clothes and put on a hospital sheet or gown for an angiography. An intravenous (IV) line is inserted into your arm whilst you are lying on a table. During the surgery, the IV administers fluids and drugs. You feel drowsy from the medication, but you are not unconscious. You may feel some pressure as the catheter is inserted, but there shouldn't be any discomfort because the doctor will have numbed the region of the incision first. You might observe a when the doctor administers the dye:

• Warm flusing, and maybe nausea, for minute or so
• Metalic taste when the dye reaches the blood vessels in your mouth
• Camera rotating around you to get x-ray from different angles

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Ankle Brachial Index (ABI)

What is an ABI?

A test to identify peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is the ankle brachial index (ABI). The ABI checks blood pressure in both your arm and ankle. The blood pressure measurements in your arms and legs are compared by your doctor. The ABI can identify clogged arteries in your legs in this manner.

The ABI is usually a good indicator of:

• Whether blockages are present
• The extent of any blockages

Other tests may occasionally be requested by your doctor and performed concurrently with the ABI. Doppler ultrasound testing is one of these tests. An ultrasound employs sound waves that reverberate off the tissues in your leg or foot, including the blood vessels. Thus, the ultrasound can gauge how much blood is flowing through the capillaries in that particular area.

A stress test (or exercise test), along with an ABI, may occasionally be performed. Particularly if the doctor notices odd ABI values, this is advised. In these situations, the physician administers an ABI both before and following the stress test.

Visit the entries for a stress test and a Dlopper ultrasound in the Test section to find out more information.

What can I expect?

You take off your clothes, put on a medical gown, and lie on an examination table when you have an ankle brachial index (ABI). Four places on your legs and one on each arm are used to measure your blood pressure. The cuffs are first inflated on the arms, then deflated on the legs. Gel is applied to your skin, usually on your feet, when a Doppler ultrasound is also performed. A transducer, which looks like a pen and is used to measure blood flow in the arteries, is moved over your skin by the doctor once the leg cuffs are deflated. Similar to a routine blood pressure check, the ABI is typically a quick and painless procedure.

Doppler Ultrasound

What is a Doppler ultrasound?

A moving, three-dimensional image of various body parts is displayed using a doppler ultrasonography. The ultrasound test used on pregnant women and this sort of test are extremely similar.

People cannot hear the sound waves that are emitted by the ultrasound equipment. The device records and monitors how the waves are reflected back as the sound echoes off of the body's fluids and tissues. The device detects even minute variations in the pitch and angular direction of each sound wave. The waves exhibit the following as they "echo" off the blood vessels:

• How well blood flows through the blood vessels
• Wheather there are blockages in the vessels
• If there are blockages, the location and extent of the blockage

Doopler ultradound show real-time images. For instance, it shows actual movement of blood through arteries. So doctor use the test to find blockages in various part of the body:

• In the coronary arteries in the heart (Where a blockage can cause a heart attack)
• In the carotid arteries in the neck (where a blockage can cause a stroke)
• In blood vessels in the legs (where a blockage can lead to pain caused by peripheral vascular disease)

Doppler ultrasound techonology is also in an echocardiogram, which is a moving image of the heart.

What can I expect?

You might have to take off some or all of your clothing and change into a hospital gown before having a Doppler ultrasound. Then you lie on an examination table. The technician applies gel to the part of your skin that will be evaluated (such as the neck or leg). The gel aids in sound wave transmission. The technician will then glide a transducer, which resembles a pen, across your skin.

The sound waves bounce off your body and are picked up by the machine as echoes. The computer screen of the device will then display the resulting image, which is a moving depiction of your blood vessels.

A painless process, ultrasound. However, if you're obliged to wear a, you can feel some discomfort while the sonographer moves the transducer over your body.

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

What is an ECG?

An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) provides information about the electrical activity of your heart. Your heartbeats or cardiac rhythms are detected and recorded by the ECG. On a piece of paper strip, the results are printed. Your doctor may use an ECG to determine whether or not:

• You have arrhythmias
• You heart medication is effective
• Blocked coranary arteries ( in the heart) are cutting off blood and oxygen to your heart muscle
• Your blocked coronary arteries have caused a heart attack.

In all, there are three kinds of tests that record your heart´s electrical activity, each for a different period of time:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG) – done in the doctor´s office. It records your heart rhythms for few minutes.
• Holter monitoring – records and stores ( in its memory) all of your heart rhythms for 24 – 48 hours.
• Event recorder – Constantly records your heart rhythms. But it stores the rhythms (in its memory) only when you push a button.

On an electrocardiogram (ECG) strip, the peaks are referred to as waves. Your doctor can learn vital details about the health of your heart from all the peaks and troughs put together:

• The P-wave shows heart´s upper chambers (atria) contracting
• The QRS complex shows your heart´s lower chambers (ventricles) contracting
• The T-wave shows your heart´s ventricles relaxing .

What can I expect?

You take off your clothes up to your waist, put on a medical gown, and lie down on a table to have an electrocardiogram (ECG). Your neck, limbs, and legs may all have up to 12 tiny electrodes put there. The electrodes on the ECG equipment that connect to the wires detect the electrical impulses coming from the heart. The device then plots a strip of graph paper with the beat of your heart on it.

What tests could I have?

Tests

One or more of the tests described below may be recommended by your doctor to determine whether you have peripheral vascular disease (PVD). You might undergo some of the tests to see if you are also experiencing blockages in the coronary arteries, which provide blood to your heart. The results of the test may also aid your doctor in determining the best course of action for you.

You may occasionally be referred to specialists for diagnosis, testing, and occasionally treatment. Visit the section on your treatment team for more information.

• Angiogram
• Ankle Brachial Index
• Doppler Ultrasound
• Electrocardiagram (ECG or EKG)
• MRI
• Stethoscope Test

Your doctor can use a stethoscope to listen to your blood flow to see whether any peripheral blood arteries are blocked. A blockage may be indicated by an unusual whooshing sound, known as a bruit, as the blood flows through the artery. A stethoscope examination is a useful initial test. Additionally, your doctor might request follow-up exams.

Angiogram

What is an angiogram?

An angiogram is a image of your blood vessels, similar to an x-ray. An angiogram shows:

• How well the blood flows through the arteries
• Whether blockages exist – and if so, their location

An angiogram might be ordered if your doctor suspects blockages in:

• Your heart´s arteries (called coronary arteries)
• Arteries outside your heart (called peripheral arteries)
• Arteries in your neck (called carotid arteries)

The cardiac catheterization precedes the angiography. A catheter, a tiny, flexible tube, is introduced into a blood vessel during a cardiac catheterization. Your doctor inserts the catheter and injects a dye to start the angiography. The dye makes it possible for images of your blood arteries to appear on a monitor, sort of like highways on a map. If the angiogram reveals a clogged artery, your doctor might be able to perform a technique like balloon angioplasty to fix it right away.

What can I expect?

Your examination will take place in a "cath lab." You take off your clothes and put on a hospital sheet or gown for an angiography. An intravenous (IV) line is inserted into your arm whilst you are lying on a table. During the surgery, the IV administers fluids and drugs. You feel drowsy from the medication, but you are not unconscious. You may feel some pressure as the catheter is inserted, but there shouldn't be any discomfort because the doctor will have numbed the region of the incision first. You might observe a when the doctor administers the dye:

• Warm flusing, and maybe nausea, for minute or so
• Metalic taste when the dye reaches the blood vessels in your mouth
• Camera rotating around you to get x-ray from different angles

#

#

Ankle Brachial Index (ABI)

What is an ABI?

A test to identify peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is the ankle brachial index (ABI). The ABI checks blood pressure in both your arm and ankle. The blood pressure measurements in your arms and legs are compared by your doctor. The ABI can identify clogged arteries in your legs in this manner.

The ABI is usually a good indicator of:

• Whether blockages are present
• The extent of any blockages

Other tests may occasionally be requested by your doctor and performed concurrently with the ABI. Doppler ultrasound testing is one of these tests. An ultrasound employs sound waves that reverberate off the tissues in your leg or foot, including the blood vessels. Thus, the ultrasound can gauge how much blood is flowing through the capillaries in that particular area.

A stress test (or exercise test), along with an ABI, may occasionally be performed. Particularly if the doctor notices odd ABI values, this is advised. In these situations, the physician administers an ABI both before and following the stress test.

Visit the entries for a stress test and a Dlopper ultrasound in the Test section to find out more information.

What can I expect?

You take off your clothes, put on a medical gown, and lie on an examination table when you have an ankle brachial index (ABI). Four places on your legs and one on each arm are used to measure your blood pressure. The cuffs are first inflated on the arms, then deflated on the legs. Gel is applied to your skin, usually on your feet, when a Doppler ultrasound is also performed. A transducer, which looks like a pen and is used to measure blood flow in the arteries, is moved over your skin by the doctor once the leg cuffs are deflated. Similar to a routine blood pressure check, the ABI is typically a quick and painless procedure.

Doppler Ultrasound

What is a Doppler ultrasound?

A moving, three-dimensional image of various body parts is displayed using a doppler ultrasonography. The ultrasound test used on pregnant women and this sort of test are extremely similar.

People cannot hear the sound waves that are emitted by the ultrasound equipment. The device records and monitors how the waves are reflected back as the sound echoes off of the body's fluids and tissues. The device detects even minute variations in the pitch and angular direction of each sound wave. The waves exhibit the following as they "echo" off the blood vessels:

• How well blood flows through the blood vessels
• Wheather there are blockages in the vessels
• If there are blockages, the location and extent of the blockage

Doopler ultradound show real-time images. For instance, it shows actual movement of blood through arteries. So doctor use the test to find blockages in various part of the body:

• In the coronary arteries in the heart (Where a blockage can cause a heart attack)
• In the carotid arteries in the neck (where a blockage can cause a stroke)
• In blood vessels in the legs (where a blockage can lead to pain caused by peripheral vascular disease)

Doppler ultrasound techonology is also in an echocardiogram, which is a moving image of the heart.

What can I expect?

You might have to take off some or all of your clothing and change into a hospital gown before having a Doppler ultrasound. Then you lie on an examination table. The technician applies gel to the part of your skin that will be evaluated (such as the neck or leg). The gel aids in sound wave transmission. The technician will then glide a transducer, which resembles a pen, across your skin.

The sound waves bounce off your body and are picked up by the machine as echoes. The computer screen of the device will then display the resulting image, which is a moving depiction of your blood vessels.

A painless process, ultrasound. However, if you're obliged to wear a, you can feel some discomfort while the sonographer moves the transducer over your body.

Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

What is an ECG?

An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) provides information about the electrical activity of your heart. Your heartbeats or cardiac rhythms are detected and recorded by the ECG. On a piece of paper strip, the results are printed. Your doctor may use an ECG to determine whether or not:

• You have arrhythmias
• You heart medication is effective
• Blocked coranary arteries ( in the heart) are cutting off blood and oxygen to your heart muscle
• Your blocked coronary arteries have caused a heart attack.

In all, there are three kinds of tests that record your heart´s electrical activity, each for a different period of time:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG) – done in the doctor´s office. It records your heart rhythms for few minutes.
• Holter monitoring – records and stores ( in its memory) all of your heart rhythms for 24 – 48 hours.
• Event recorder – Constantly records your heart rhythms. But it stores the rhythms (in its memory) only when you push a button.

On an electrocardiogram (ECG) strip, the peaks are referred to as waves. Your doctor can learn vital details about the health of your heart from all the peaks and troughs put together:

• The P-wave shows heart´s upper chambers (atria) contracting
• The QRS complex shows your heart´s lower chambers (ventricles) contracting
• The T-wave shows your heart´s ventricles relaxing .

What can I expect?

You take off your clothes up to your waist, put on a medical gown, and lie down on a table to have an electrocardiogram (ECG). Your neck, limbs, and legs may all have up to 12 tiny electrodes put there. The electrodes on the ECG equipment that connect to the wires detect the electrical impulses coming from the heart. The device then plots a strip of graph paper with the beat of your heart on it.

What are the treatment options?

Living a healthier lifestyle could be part of your treatment for peripheral vascular disease (PVD) because lifestyle factors can affect it. If you smoke, your doctor or nurse, for instance, can outline different stop-smoking programs that might be effective for you. Visit the Risk Factor section to learn more.

Your test results will determine what other treatments you receive. One or more of these treatments or procedures may be suggested by your doctor.

Medications

• Tips for taking heart medications
• Anticoagulants
• Stanins

Procedures

• Atherectomy
• Ballon Angiosplasty
• Bypass Surgery
• Endarterectomy
• Stent Implant