Background

About Peripheral Artery Disease(PAD)

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a vascular condition that affects an estimated 12 million people in the United States over the age of 40. It is also estimated that there are over 200 million people diagnosed with PAD worldwide. PAD is a chronic atherosclerotic disease commonly affecting arteries in lower extremities, and when untreated ranges in symptomatology from intermittent pain to possible numbness, tissue necrosis, and chronic limb threatening ischemia (2 million patients in the US suffer from). 

Besides pharmacological interventions designed to delay symptom progression, surgical interventions are performed for definitive treatment of PAD. These interventions range from open endarterectomies to endovascular stent placement interventions. It is estimated that over 500,000 peripheral vascular interventions (PVIs) are performed yearly for PAD. Unfortunately, restenosis rates from these interventions range from 12.5 to 20% occurring primarily during the first 6 months post intervention.   

Additionally, there is no consensus for guidelines regarding post intervention surveillance specifically for timing and surveillance methodologies. Some methods that are currently used in the field are ABIs and duplex ultrasounds.  Both methods are accurate in determining restenosis but are done at differing intervals post intervention and require patients to revisit clinic or hospital and cost significant capital to both patient and hospital. Rural populations and people with multimorbidity's, such as diabetes are at higher risk due to the reduced availability for local healthcare, and the inability to identify a change in symptoms due to already existing lower extremity pain, respectively.  

Demographic