Abstracts by keywords: Peripheral artery disease
Status, deficits and challenges in the care of peripheral arterial disease
One in five patients over the age of 65 in Germany receiving primary care suffers from peripheral arterial disease (PAD) (Diehm et al 2009). As a chronic, slowly progressive disease that progresses in stages, it is usually the result of a manifestation of atherosclerosis in the arteries supplying the leg. Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease and one of the most important causes of cardiovascular disease and death in western industrialized nations (Barrows et al 2009). In the course of PAD, there can be significant limitations in the patient's mobility, exercise capacity and quality of life. A feared long-term consequence is amputation (DGA 2009).