The relationship between the coexistence of coronary artery disease and peripheral arterial disease in high cardiovascular risk patients in an angiographic study, A neglected crucial link

Introduction: Peripheral arterial disease in coronary artery disease (CAD) is associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes. This issue is more highlighted in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery after catheterization procedures. Methods: This study was observational on participants who recourse to the heart clinics and candidates for coronary angiography, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. In the first, coronary angiography was performed, and so, if the patients had significant involvement of coronary arteries and had at least one inclusion criteria, for assessment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), peripheral angiography through the femoral artery was performed. The statistical analysis was done by SPSS software (Version ۱۶) and the data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics method, variance analysis, and Fisher's Exact Test. The level of significance was considered to be (۰.۰۵). Results: Among all patients, there was no significant difference in the demographic variables such as gender (P= ۰.۴۹۷) and age (P= ۰.۰۶۹). The commonest peripheral artery involved in patients was the right femoral artery. A statistically significant relationship between gender and PAD was seen (P=۰.۰۰۱). There was no significant relationship between the type of involved coronary artery and gender (p=۰.۰۴۳; Fisher's Exact Test = ۱۰.۷۱۹). Conclusion: More than one-third of participants with CAD had peripheral arterial involvement in iliofemoral arteries in this study. This situation increased the risk of complications in vascular blind catheterization. So, Improving PAD detection is crucial for more effective cardiovascular prevention and treatment.