BACKGROUND: Chronic venous ulcers are extremely frequent and have a significant impact on quality of life and work productivity of individuals, in addition to high costs to public health. OBJECTIVES: Detection of arterial circulation alterations in chronic venous ulcer legs using a non-invasive method to discriminate patients not indicated to have compressive treatment. METHODS: Forty patients with chronic venous ulcers were investigated for the presence of peripheral arterial disease with measurement of the ankle/brachial index by Doppler ultrasound. RESULTS: The resting ankle/brachial pressure index was abnormal (lower than 1) in 9/22 (40.9%) patients with concomitant chronic venous ulcers and hypertension and only in one out of 13 (7.7%) patients with chronic venous ulcers and no hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with concomitant chronic venous ulcer and hypertension should be routinely evaluated with the ankle/brachial pressure index to detect a possible association with peripheral arterial disease.
Arterial occlusive diseases; Ultrasonography; doppler; Varicose ulcer
