Ankle-brachial index and extent of atherosclerosis in patients from the Middle East (the AGATHA-ME study): a cross-sectional multicenter study.

To assess the extent of atherothrombosis and the use of the ankle-brachial index (ABI) in populations from the Middle East, we conducted a multicenter study similar to AGATHA (a Global Atherothrombosis Assessment), AGATHA-ME, which included 1341 patients from 18 centers from 5 countries (United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman). Patients were assigned to 2 groups: the with-disease and at-risk groups. Abnormal ABI (< or =0.