Background
The early diagnosis of atherosclerotic disease is essential for developing preventive strategies in populations at high risk and acting when the disease is still asymptomatic. A low ankle-arm index (AAI) is a good marker of vascular events and may be diminished without presenting symptomatology (silent peripheral arterial disease). The
Discussion
In this study we hope to determine the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease, especially the silent forms, in the general population and establish its relationship with cardiovascular morbimortality. A low AAI may be a better marker of arterial disease than the classical cardiovascular risk factors and may, therefore, contribute to improving the predictive value of the equations of cardiovascular risk and thereby allowing optimisation of multifactorial treatment of atherosclerotic disease.