This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Yataco, A. R. Articles by Gardner, A. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yataco, A. R. Articles by Gardner, A. W. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Smoking Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Acute Reduction in Ankle/Brachial Index Following Smoking in Chronic Smokers with Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease

Andrew W. Gardner, PhD, FACA

Andrew W. Gardner, PhD

Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center Geriatrics Service/GRECC (18) 10 North Greene Street Baltimore, MD 21201-1524

The ankle-brachial systolic pressure index (ABI), a noninvasive measure of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) severity, is considered a marker of atherosclerosis and an independent predictor of mortality. However, it is not known whether factors other than PAOD severity, such as cigarette smoking, have an effect on ABI measurement. Therefore, the authors examined the acute effects of cigarette smoking on ABI and the peripheral circulation in 10 older (63 ±10 years) chronic smokers (39 ±37 pack-years) with PAOD (ABI=0.64 ±0.14). The patients were instructed to refrain from smoking and from consuming caffeine-containing beverages for at least 12 hours before the tests. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 days of testing consisting of a nonsmoking and a smoking day. Resting heart rate, blood pressure, ABI, and calf blood flow by plethysmography were obtained on both testing days. The smoking day consisted of smoking two filter cigarettes over a period of 10 minutes before the measurement of ABI and calf blood flow. The ABI on the smoking day (0.55 ±0.11) was lower (p=0.008) than on the nonsmoking day (0.64 ±0.14) owing to a lower (p = 0.020) ankle systolic blood pressure (81 ±28 vs 93 ±28 mmHg). Brachial systolic blood pressures, heart rate, and calf blood flow were not altered by smoking (p>0.05). These results demonstrate that the acute effect of cigarette smoking lowers the ABI in chronic smokers with intermittent claudication, thereby yielding evidence of a transient deleterious effect of cigarette smoking on the peripheral circulation in chronic smokers.

Angiology, Vol. 50, No. 5, 355-360 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/000331979905000501


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K.J. Dickinson, A.J. Cockbain, W. MacDonald, M. Shah, and S. Homer-Vanniasinkam The Physiological Effects of Short-term Smoking Cessation in Claudicants Angiology, April 1, 2009; 60(2): 159 - 163. [Abstract] [PDF]