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PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE EN THE AGED: MODERN CONCEPTS AND DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
Author(s) -
RICCITELLI M. L.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1969.tb03175.x
Subject(s) - medicine , claudication , peripheral , intermittent claudication , plethysmograph , arterial disease , vascular disease , disease , cardiology , circulatory system , etiology , frostbite , intensive care medicine , surgery
A bstract : One of the most important problems in the management of elderly patients is the maintenance of adequate peripheral blood flow. The most common among the degenerative, vasospastic and inflammatory disorders interfering with the peripheral circulation is arteriosclerosis, a disease of obscure etiology and unsatisfactory therapy. Accurate assessment of the peripheral circulatory reserve is mandatory for making earlier and more accurate diagnoses, and before drawing final conclusions about specific therapy. A complete detailed history, with information from all sources, is essential. Intermittent claudication is one of the earliest symptoms of chronic occlusive peripheral arterial disease. Current techniques are discussed for the estimation of blood flow, for testing the dilatation capacity of blood vessels, and for detecting the site of arterial block. Included are oscillometry, plethysmography and claudication tests, in addition to clinical assessment. More sophisticated techniques used by research workers are thermography, conjunctival and nailbed biomicroscopy, disulfine blue clearance, and xenon 133 scintiscanning.