Indications for functional examination in patients with peripheral arteriopathy

On the basis of personal research with the reactive hyperemia test and of a study of the literature, an attempt is made to adequately define the indications for functional examination of patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans. The question considered is how much extra information is gained by functional examination, compared with the mere determination of ankle/arm systolic blood pressure index at rest, in regard to the following problems: 1 are the symptoms indeed due to arterial insufficiency? 2 how severe is this insufficiency? 3 where are the hemodynamically important lesions situated? It is concluded that functional examination rarely yields additional information in respect of these three questions, and therefore need not be carried out routinely.