Research priorities for peripheral artery disease: A statement from the Society for Vascular Medicine

Lower-extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects approximately 236 million people worldwide and at least eight million people in the United States (US). Despite availability of new therapies that prevent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), these and major adverse limb events (MALE) remain common and occur more frequently in people with PAD, either with or without coronary artery disease (CAD), compared to people with CAD who do not have PAD. The most effective therapies to prevent cardiovascular events are not identical in people with PAD and those with CAD. Walking impairment and the risk of lower-extremity amputation are significantly greater in people with PAD compared to those without PAD. This report from the Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM) proposes and summarizes high-priority topics for scientific investigation in PAD, with the goal of improving health outcomes in people with PAD. To develop this report, a multidisciplinary team of scientists and clinicians reviewed literature, proposed high-priority topics for scientific investigation, and voted to rank the highest priority topics for scientific investigation. Priorities for clinical scientific investigation include: determine the current prevalence of PAD in the US by age, sex, race, and ethnicity; improve methods to diagnose PAD; develop new medical therapies to eliminate walking impairment; and improve implementation of established therapies to reduce rates of MACE and MALE in people with PAD. Priorities in basic science and translational science investigation include: developing animal models that closely resemble the vascular, skeletal muscle, and platelet pathology in patients with PAD and defining the genetic and epigenetic contributors to PAD and PAD-associated outcomes. Successful investigation of these research priorities will require more well-trained investigators focused on scientific investigation of PAD, greater and more efficient enrollment of diverse patients with PAD in randomized clinical trials, and increased research funding dedicated to PAD.