Relationship between SYNTAX score and Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II classification in patients undergoing...

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a marker of systemic atherosclerosis and most patients with PAD also have concomitant coronary artery disease (CAD).

There are no published data investigating the relationship between PAD and CAD complexity assessed by a well-accepted classification system such as the SYNTAX score (SS) or Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II (TASC II).

The study population consisted of 72 patients who underwent coronary angiography for the assessment of CAD. At the same session, peripheral angiography was performed in cases of suspected PAD. A coronary lesion was defined as significant if it caused a 50% reduction of the luminal diameter by visual estimation in vessels ≥ 1.5 mm. The SYNTAX score was computed by dedicated software.

Patients with peripheral artery disease were divided into four groups according to the Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II classification. Numbers of patients with peripheral artery disease classified as A, B, C, and D by the Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II classification were 27, 16, 18 and 11, respectively. SYNTAX scores for each group from A to D were 10 ±9, 11 ±10, 24 ±13 and 27 ±12, respectively; p for trend < 0.001.

Higher Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II classification is associated with higher SYNTAX score in patients who underwent coronary and peripheral diagnostic angiography. It may suggest that arterial atherosclerotic disease complexity is a systemic panvascular phenomenon.