[Value of the ankle-brachial index in cardiovascular risk stratification of patients without known atherotrombotic disease. MERITO study].

Background And Objectives: Peripheral arterial disease detected by measurement of ankle-brachial index enables the identification of asymptomatic patients with target organ damage. We have investigated the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (ankle-brachial index < 0.9), and its potential clinical-therapeutic impact, in patients without known atherotrombotic disease from internal medicine practices.