[Epidemiology of chronic critical limb ischemia]

Peripheral artery diseases amount to more than 20% of all types of cardiovascular diseases, which corresponds to 2-3% of the total population. 15 to 30% of the population of Russian Federation over 65 years have signs of obliterating arteriopathy. Advance of arterial insufficiency in some cases leads to development of special state - chronic critical limb ischemia (CLI). This article presents a review of statistical data from different sources, showing high prevalence of this severe issue, as well as data of amputations rate, performed in different countries due to CLI, reflecting the extreme relevance of the search for new methods of CLI treatment.