Relationship between ankle brachial index and ejection fraction in elderly Egyptians with ischemic heart disease

There is a high prevalence of combined peripheral and coronary artery disease, with increasing morbidity and decline in cardiac function. The aim of the present study was to find an association between ankle brachial index, a non-invasive measure of peripheral artery disease, and ejection fraction in elderly patients with severe coronary artery disease.

A case-control study recruiting 200 elderly male and female ischemic patients in Ain Shams University hospitals was carried out. All participants had significant coronary artery disease lesions in coronary angiography carried out before the study. Cases and controls were divided according to ankle brachial index, with further subdivision of each group according to age. Measurements include: ankle brachial index using Bistos handheld vascular Doppler (BT 200V,8 MHz), electrocardiography and echocardiography showing left ventricular ejection fraction. Coronary artery disease severity was estimated using the number of diseased vessels.

The mean age of our study group was 67 years. Although our participants had mild to moderate peripheral artery disease, ejection fraction statistically decreased with decreasing ankle brachial index, being the lowest in participants aged > 70 years (46.84 ± 9.82 years) and the highest in controls aged >70 years (53.02 ± 5.53 years; P = 0.009). Ejection fraction was positively correlated with ankle brachial index (P = 0.011, 0.006) for cases and controls, respectively.

Ankle brachial index can correlate with ejection fraction in elderly ischemic Egyptians with more severe coronary artery disease.