Study Suggests Severe Asymptomatic CAD May Accompany PAD

December 1, 2009—Results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial presented by Rozemarijn Vliegenthart Proenca, MD, at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America reveal that one in five patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) also has significant but silent coronary artery disease.

According to the investigators, PAD patients, including those experiencing no symptoms of heart disease, are known to be at high risk for cardiovascular events such as a heart attack or stroke. The purpose of their clinical trial was to investigate whether noninvasive imaging of the heart and subsequent treatment of PAD patients result in a decrease in cardiac events compared to standard care.

In the clinical trial, a total of 231 PAD patients from four participating hospitals in the Netherlands were divided into one of two groups: one in which 108 patients received standard care—consisting of lifestyle changes and medication—for their condition, and a second group in which 115 patients underwent cardiac imaging of the heart in addition to standard care. With new noninvasive cardiac imaging techniques, asymptomatic coronary atherosclerosis can be readily detected and treated, the investigators noted.

Among the 115 patients who received cardiac imaging, computed tomography revealed that 53 (46%) had at least one significant narrowing of a coronary artery. Of those 53 patients, 22 had significant narrowing in the left main coronary artery or its equivalent and were referred for treatment. Eight of those patients subsequently had bypass surgery, and three underwent coronary angiography with stent placement. The remaining patients were treated with medication. Cardiac stress magnetic resonance imaging was then performed on 76 patients, which identified two additional patients with signs of coronary artery disease, one of whom underwent angiography and stent placement. In total, 24 (21%) of the 115 patients who underwent imaging had evidence of asymptomatic but severe coronary artery disease that required additional treatment.

"In PAD patients experiencing no cardiac symptoms, we found a strikingly high rate of severe coronary artery disease," commented Dr. Vliegenthart Proenca. "The results of our trial stress that PAD patients without a history of cardiac symptoms should undergo extensive cardiovascular risk factor management."