Resumo

WOLOSKER, Nelson et al. Predictive value of the ankle-brachial index in the evaluation of intermittent claudication. Rev. Hosp. Clin. [online]. 2000, vol.55, n.2, pp. 61-64. ISSN 0041-8781.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0041-87812000000200005.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the ankle-brachial index (ABI) could be used to predict the prognosis for a patient with intermittent claudication (IC). We studied 611 patients prospectively during 28 months of follow-up. We analyzed the predictive power of using various levels of ABI - 0.30 to 0.70 at 0.05 increments - in terms of the measure's specificity (association with a favorable outcome after exercise rehabilitation therapy) and sensitivity (association with a poor outcome after exercise rehabilitation therapy). We found that using an ABI of 0.30 as a cut-off value produced the lowest margin of error overall, but the predictive power was still low with respect to identifying the patients with a poor prognosis after non-aggressive therapeutic treatment. Further study is needed to perhaps identify a second factor that could increase the sensitivity of the test.

Palavras-chave : Intermittent claudication; Risk factors; Diagnostic; Atherosclerosis; Complications.