[Generalized arterial disease. Diagnostic assessment in general medical practice]

Primary and secondary prophylactic measures can be effective only if they are global in nature. In this connection, occlusive arterial disease (OAD) must be considered to be a systemic disease, and the striking coincidence of peripheral, coronary and central occlusive sites must receive greater attention.

Examination of frequency of an additional peripheral or cerebral vascular diagnostic work-up in 40 nonselected patients with primary CHD in a general practice.

From a random sample of a group of patients from a general practitioner's office with the primary diagnosis of coronary arterial disease (CAD), it can be seen that in only 30 percent of the patients was a search for other sites of occlusion (peripheral, central) undertaken, irrespective of the underlying disease.

For various reasons, in these patients, case history and the findings at physical examination often failed to provide adequate sensitivity and specificity, so that screening for high-risk patients using non-invasive methods (e.g. ultrasound) would be desirable also in the doctor's office.