Impact of international guidelines on the management of cardiovascular risk factors in diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease

Aim. Recent data on the management of cardiovascular risk factors in high risk patients showed that dyslipidemia is still treated in an inadequate way, especially in diabetic patients. We wanted to analyze the impact of the recommendation of the Inter-Society Consensus for the management of PAD (TASC-II) on the actual situation. Methods. in this retrospective cohort study we analyzed total-, HDL-, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and blood glucose using capillary blood in diabetic patients, admitted to our outpatient department. Besides the recording of a complete medical history and vascular risk factors, an ABI-measurement and a carotid Duplex ultrasonography were performed at presentation. \Results. We studied 111 diabetic patients (44 female and 67 male) with a mean age (+/- SD) of 70, 3 (0, 9) years; a BMI of 28, 2 ( 4, 2) and a mean waist circumference of 103 ( 12, 2) cm. Metabolic syndrome according to the NCEP-ATP-III criteria (2001) was shown in 86% (N.=95). 41% (N.=45) had clinically manifest vascular disease in a second and 23% (N.=26) even in a third vascular territory. Total-cholesterol was 183 +/- 43 mg/dL; LDL-C 94 +/- 30 mg/dL; HDL-cholesterol 44 +/- 12 mg/dl and triglycerides 219 103 mg/dL. A total of 33% (N.=37) in this high risk cohort attained the LDL-C target levels according to the TASC-II guidelines. A total of 68% (N.=76) was on a HMG-CoA-reductase-inhibitor, 61% (N.=68) had platelet aggregation inhibitors. Conclusion. We found poor adherence to international guidelines for secondary prevention in diabetic patients with PAD in this outpatient setting. [Int Angiol 2009;28:175-80]