[Arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower limbs. Epidemiological study of the risk factors]

Chronic arterial occlusive disease of lower limbs is recognized as a typical multifactorial disease, but the role of some risk factors is still debated, because contrasting results have been obtained in epidemiological studies. We investigated the prevalence of hypercolesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, smoking habits and diabetes in a population of 172 patients with peripheral arterial disease admitted to the III and V Medical Division of the "Ospedale Regionale" of Parma in the period January 1979 - April 1983, and in a control group of 174 subjects comparable for age and sex, free of clinical symptoms or signs of atherosclerosis. Statistically significant (p less than 0,005) increases in the prevalence of hypercolesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, smoking and hypertension were found in vascular patients compared with controls, the relative risk for the various considered factors being respectively: 6.40; 4.72; 4.03; 3.16.