[Intermittent claudications of arterial origin: some epidemiological and physiopathological features]

The authors repeat part of their report to the 79th French Congress of Surgery, presented in September, 1977. They recall that chronic obstructive arteriopathies affect from 1.5% to 4% of the population, and that in half of the cases, the symptoms are those of a simple intermittent claudication. Atheromatosis is the main cause, but to this must be added many other risk factors, smoking and metabolic disorders, especially glucidic and lipidic ones. There is spontaneous worsening in only half the cases. Other vascular and coronary ailments and problems of the cerebral vessels are responsible for most of the deaths of patients affected by arteriopathies of the lower limbs. The precise pain mechanism of the intermittent arterial claudication, its physio-pathological significance, like the mechanisms of vasomotricity and the development of the collateral circulation, are not yet completely clear. A therapeutic attitude can only be taken keeping in mind these developmental and physiopathological data: claudication is a symptom that does not necessarily mean that the limb is threatened.