Association of low ankle-brachial index with mortality in patients with ischemic heart disease

作者:Zheng Liqiang; Li Jue; Hu Dayi; Luo Yingyi; Li Xiankai; Xu Yuanxi; Sun Zhaoqing; Sun Yingxian*
来源:Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis, 2010, 17(7): 759-767.

摘要

Aims: Whether a low ankle-brachial index can improve the prediction of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality on top of conventional risk factors remains unclear among patients with ischemic heart disease. The present study aimed to assess the association between the ankle-brachial index and mortality in Chinese patients.
Methods: This was an observational prospective study and 1,800 Chinese patients aged >= 35 years were followed-up from 2004 to 2007-2008.
Results: There were 280 deaths, of which 165 were attributable to cardiovascular disease. Compared with patients with an ankle-brachial index >= 1.1, the risk of mortality increased linearly in lower ankle-brachial index categories: patients with an ankle-brachial index of 0.9 to 1.1, 0.7 to 0.9, < 0.7 had hazard ratios of 1.60, 2.07, and 3.08 for all-cause mortality and 1.89, 2.33, and 4.09 for cardiovascular mortality (p for trend < 0.001), respectively. Addition of the ankle-brachial index significantly (p < 0.001) increased the predictive value of the model for 3-year deaths compared with a model including risk factors alone. Comparison of areas under receiver operator characteristics curves confirmed that a model including the ankle-brachial index discriminated better than without.
Conclusion: There was an inverse association between the ankle-brachial index and mortality. Addition of the ankle-brachial index significantly improved the prediction of 3-year mortality over and above that of conventional risk factors. We recommend that the ankle-brachial index be incorporated into prognostic assessment for patients with ischemic heart disease.