Critical Leg Ischaemia

Critical leg ischaemia is a manifestation of the atherosclerotic disease and reflects the state of the whole vascular tree. If no prodromal symptoms have been present, critical leg ischaemia may be difficult to distinguish from other complaints with similar symptoms. This study will show that up to one third of patients may experience critical leg ischaemia as the first manifestation of vascular disease. This should be taken into consideration both in the clinical assessment and epi-demiological estimations. Critical leg ischaemia has a very poor prognosis. If surgical, or endovascular, improvement of the blood supply to the leg is not provided in due course, half of the legs will be amputated within a year. One of the main goals of vascular surgery is to prevent major amputations in order to enable the patients to keep their independence and mobility for their remaining lifetime. In order to avoid unnecessary amputations, it is important to direct sufficient vascular treatment on time to those patients potentially benefiting from re-constructive measures.