Ethnicity and peripheral vascular disease

There are well-documented differences in the prevalence of coronary artery disease and carotid disease between caucasians, Afro-Caribbeans and Indo-Asians. Very little data are available on ethnic differences in peripheral vascular disease (PVD). To investigate this further, we surveyed 200 consecutive patients attending the vascular surgery service at a city centre hospital serving a multiethnic patient catchment population. All patients had proven PVD, with an ankle brachial pressure index of less than 0.8. Within this cohort, Afro-Caribbeans presented more frequently with PVD compared with the proportion of this ethnic group in the local population (p = 0.013), with a greater proportion with diabetes mellitus than in the other two ethnic groups. There did not appear to be a significant difference between the ethnic groups in any of the other established risk factors or associations (i.e. treated hypertension, smoking, previous history of ischaemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, previous history of cerebrovascular accident or transient ischaemic attack) with PVD. As with coronary artery disease and carotid disease, there are ethnic differences in the prevalence of PVD, and the underlying risk factors, between caucasians, Afro-Caribbeans and Indo-Asians. Furthermore, patients of Afro-Caribbean origin present more frequently with symptomatic PVD than do either caucasians or Indo-Asians.