Angiographic distribution of lower extremity atherosclerosis in patients with and without diabetes.

Aims: To determine differences in the anatomic site of atherosclerosis in the lower extremity between patients with and patients without diabetes.

Design: Cross-sectional study of patients who underwent angiography of both legs because of symptoms of intermittent claudication, rest and/or night pain, ulceration or gangrene.

Methods: The angiographies of 37 patients with diabetes and 37 patients without diabetes, matched for age, sex and smoking behaviour, were evaluated using the Bollinger scoring system.

Results: The mean (sd) Bollinger score in the upper leg (from the abdominal aorta to and including the superficial femoral artery) was higher (P = 0.01) for patients without diabetes (35.3 (22.8)) than for patients with diabetes (23.3 (16.1)). In the lower leg (from the popliteal artery to the posterior tibial artery) patients with diabetes tended to have a higher score than patients without diabetes: 47.4 (34.2) and 37.6 (32.9), respectively (P = 0.22).

Conclusion: This angiographic study confirms the clinical notion that lower limb atherosclerosis in diabetes is more severe in distal segments of the lower extremity, while the proximal segments remain less attenuated compared with patients without diabetes.