Peripheral Artery Disease

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) involves atherosclerosis mainly in the extremities, especially in the legs and feet that lead to ischemia. Untreated, PAD can progress to critical limb ischemia (CLI), also called chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), which will lead to foot or leg amputation. The mortality rate for these CLI amputees is 70% within three years. There is currently an epidemic of PAD and CLI in the U.S. The majority of patients are defined by health disparities concentrated in the Black, Latino, Native American populations in both rural and low-income urban areas. A large number of PAD patients have other comorbities, with diabetes being one a primary issue.

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Banner ASC in Sun City, Arizona.

PAD patients fare better when they have a strong support system

PAD patients with a strong social support system were associated with better outcomes in a new analysis published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

Pedro Martinez Clark, MD, is helping to addressing health disparities and high PAD and CLI rates in Latin and Haitian communities in Miami.

Addressing high PAD and CLI rates in Latin and Haitian communities of Miami

Pedro Martinez Clark, MD, FSCAI, interventional cardiologist, medical director of Amavita Heart and Vascular Health in Miami, set up community outreach efforts to screen patients in low-income neighborhoods.
 

doctor looking at CLTI patient's leg

FDA clears medical device company’s full line of vascular testing systems

The newly cleared devices are all designed to detect signs of PAD and/or PVD early enough that limb amputation is not required. 

Video interview with Sahil Parikh, MD, FSCAI, director of endovascular services, New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at Columbia University, who discusses the disparities in PE treatments in the REAL-PE study

REAL-PE highlights disparities in pulmonary embolism care

Sahil Parikh, MD, director of endovascular services, New York-Presbyterian, explains details from the big-data REAL-PE study comparing mechanical thrombectomy to ultrasound assisted catheter thrombolysis.

Video interview with Jim Melton, DO, vascular surgeon, explains the CLI mortality rate among amputees in rural Oklahoma, and the need for outreach programs to screen more patients.

Death rate from critical limb ischemia is high in rural Oklahoma

In rural Oklahoma, double amputees due to untreated peripheral artery disease face mortality rates around 35% after one year and 60% after two. Jim Melton, DO, hopes his mobile cardiology clinics can make a difference for these patients.

Jim Melton, DO, vascular surgeon and co-founder of the CardioVascular Health Clinic in Oklahoma City, explains the use of mobile outreach cardiology clinics to help rural and Native American populations.

Mobile cardiology clinic reaches rural, Native American populations in Oklahoma

Jim Melton, DO, a vascular surgeon in Oklahoma City, explains his efforts to reach patients in rural Oklahoma and Native American tribes with a mobile cardiovascular clinic program.

Richard Heuser, MD, an interventional cardiologist known for his groundbreaking work in the field, leadership and strong business acumen, died on May 23. He was 73 years old.

Cardiologist Richard Heuser, interventional specialist and medical device pioneer, dies at 73

Heuser had a long, impactful career in cardiology. One former colleague said he was “an amazing interventional cardiologist and an even better human being.”

Leftr, Pedro Martinez-Clark, MD, FSCAI, interventional cardiologist, founder and medical director of Amavita Heart and Vascular Health during a PAD intervention. Right, an ultrasound evaluation of PAD in the legs. Amavita recently launched the Miami Initiative to Stop Amputation (MISA) to tackle the rising rates of amputations due to peripheral artery disease (PAD), in Latin, Haitian and Black communities in the Miami area. Photos courtesy of Amavita Heart and Vascular Health

Rising amputation rates spark new PAD initiative in Miami

"When you think about the rise of amputations in a country like the United States, that's concerning because it should not be happening here," one interventional cardiologist said. 

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