Asymptomatic Plaques of Lower Peripheral Arteries and Their Association with Cardiovascular Disease: An Autopsy Study

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) have a high prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality; however, majority of patients with PAD are asymptomatic. This study aimed to histologically evaluate whether asymptomatic, lower extremity artery plaques are associated with systemic atherosclerosis and the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events using autopsy cases.

We histologically investigated the atherosclerotic plaques of the common iliac, common carotid, coronary, and renal arteries from 121 autopsy cases without symptoms of PAD (mean age:67.6 years; 63% men; 83% non-CVD death). We evaluated the relationship between the degree of iliac artery atherosclerosis and that of other arteries, and also the presence of any CVD, myocardial infarction, stroke, and renal failure.

Advanced atherosclerotic plaques (American Heart Association ≥4) were present in 86 (72%) common iliac arteries in these cases. These arteries also showed high frequencies of calcification (66%), intraplaque hemorrhage (42%), and plaque disruption (24%). These advanced lesions were associated with age (≥60 years), sex (male), hypertension, diabetes, and smoking habit (all P＜0.05). Additionally, it was significantly associated with CVD (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval; 6.2, 2.2-22), myocardial infarction (6.4, 1.2-19), stroke (8.7, 1.7-16), and renal failure/hemodialysis (5.8, 1.1-11). Cases with advanced iliac artery plaques had advanced coronary and carotid atherosclerosis.

These results indicate that asymptomatic advanced plaques are frequently observed in common iliac arteries, and are associated with generalized atherosclerosis and CVD events.