Color Doppler and Ankle-brachial Index in the Diagnosis of Peripheral Artery Disease in Type II Diabetic Subject

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association of color doppler and ankle-brachial index (ABI) in the diagnosis of peripheral artery disease in type ii diabetic subject. Methods: The study was carried out at ultrasound department of Advanced Radiology Clinic (ARC), Karachi, from January 2020 to December 2020. Patients of diagnosed diabetes mellitus for at least 4 years of either gender between 30-70 years of age were included. All patients were instructed to avoid heavy exercise, smoking and caffeinated beverages before the examination for at the minimum of two hours. All the cases underwent Standard Doppler examination of lower limb peripheral arteries performed by radiologist having experience of more than 10 years. Spectral waveform analysis was evaluated and presence of Biphasic flow or monophasic flow on color Doppler was labelled as peripheral artery disease. The ABI was computed for each patient by measuring the systolic blood pressure in supine position starting with the right arm then proceeding towards right leg, left leg, and finally for the left arm. ABI is a ratio obtained from dividing the higher of the ankle blood pressures for each leg by the highest of the right and left arm’s brachial systolic blood pressures. It was labelled as peripheral artery disease if the value was <0.9. This information along with the demographics was entered in the Performa by the researcher. Data was analyzed by using SPSS Version 26. Result: Mean age of enrolled participants was 58.21±6.74 year. There were 78.6% were males and 21.4% were females; mean duration of diabetes was 11.24±5.62 years. Out of all 121 cases were diagnosed color doppler and 118 cases found positive on ABI. Although ankle-brachial index shows almost similar diagnosis like color doppler ultrasound in the assessment of peripheral arterial disease (P-0.649). Conclusion: This study concludes that ankle-brachial index is a feasible, non-invasive technique almost similar to color Doppler ultrasound method for the detection of peripheral arterial disease. The ankle-brachial index technique is most important in periphery areas where color Doppler ultrasound is not available.