Promoting awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of peripheral vascular disease (PVD), also known as peripheral arterial disease (PAD), is a priority at Duke.

More than half the patients who have this blockage of the vessels that supply blood to the organs and limbs have severe coronary disease as well.

The risk factors for peripheral vascular disease and peripheral artery disease (when blockage occurs in the leg arteries) parallel those of heart and neurovascular disease: diabetes mellitus, tobacco use, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Duke Heart Center's PVD experts take a team-based approach to evaluating and treating this serious condition, with vascular cardiologists and vascular surgeons working side-by-side in clinics to offer more comprehensive evaluations.

Treatment Options

Duke Heart Center offers patients a host of treatments specific to the nature of the blocked artery and the patient's needs. Treatments include:

• Catheter based therapies
• Endovascular procedures such as laser ablation, orbital and directional atherectomy, and cryoplasty
• Balloon angioplasty, stenting, and lower-extremity bypass surgery
• Hybrid revascularization procedures with vascular surgeons and cardiologists
• State-of-the-art wound management, including hyperbaric therapy, for patients with non-healing wounds resulting from limb ischemia
• Medical management and lifestyle-modification programs to control factors that contribute to PVD and heart disease

Therapies also include rehabilitation programs to help maintain cardiovascular fitness and to control contributing conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

Amputation Prevention

Duke physicians aggressively pursue and evaluate new drug therapies as well as the use of the latest catheter-based technologies to improve blood flow to the limbs.

Duke Heart Center has established a "salvage center" in an effort to prevent the amputation of limbs (typically the legs) among patients with PVD-related gangrene and ulcers who are not candidates for other interventions. Our goal is to reduce by one-half the number of PVD-related amputations in NC by 2015.

Peripheral vascular disease services are provided by the Division of Cardiology, the Division of Vascular Surgery, and the Division of Interventional Radiology.

Program Highlights

• Provides leadership in the development of new therapies, such as the use of substances called growth factors to stimulate blood vessel development
• Offers patients access to the latest medications to control the symptoms and effects of peripheral arterial disease
• Includes programs that guide and support patients through beneficial lifestyle changes, including smoking cessation and improved diet and exercise
• Provides leadership in use of minimally invasive techniques such as angioplasty, atherectomy, and stent placements
• Houses design or testing center for several of the stents, catheters, and steerable guide wires (which allow physicians to manipulate the catheters within the blood vessels) that have been developed over the past several years

Appointments

Make an appointment with a Duke heart specialist near you: 888-ASK-DUKE (888-275-3853)