Prognostic Role of Polyvascular Involvement in Patients with Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease

Statin therapy is recommended for patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, PAD patients with polyvascular (PV) extent remain threatened by an increased residual cardiovascular (CV) risk. To investigate the association of prescribed statin therapy and mortality in PAD patients with or without PV extent. : A single-center retrospective longitudinal observational study originating from a consecutive registry with 1380 symptomatic PAD patients over a mean observational time of 60 ± 32 months. The association of atherosclerotic extent and statin use (PAD, plus one additional region (CAD or CeVD, [+1 V]), +2 vascular regions (+CAD and CeVD [+2 V]) with the risk of all-cause mortality was evaluated using Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for potential confounding factors. The mean age of the study's participants was 72.0 ± 11.7 years, with 36% being female. PAD patients with PV extent [+1 V] and [+2 V] were older and suffered from diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia more often; they, too, had more severely impaired kidney function (all < 0.0001) compared to patients with PAD only. PAD patients with PV [+1 V] and [+2 V] received better statin medication and reached the recommended LDL-C target compared to PAD-only patients ( < 0.001). Despite better statin treatment, the rate of all-cause mortality was higher in PV patients than in PAD-only patients (PAD only: 13%; [+1 V]: 22%; [+2 V]: 35%; < 0.0001). PV patients receive better statin therapy than PAD-only patients but nevertheless still have higher mortality rates. Future studies are needed to explore whether more aggressive LDL-lowering treatment for PAD patients may be translated into better prognosis.