European journal of vascular surgery
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A total of 119 patients with acute peripheral arterial ischaemia were studied prospectively to validate the definition of acute critical ischaemia suggested by the working party of the International Vascular Symposium. The majority of the patients had primary treatment using thrombolytic therapy. ⋯ Comparisons of the outcome in patients with or without a distal neurosensory deficit (limb salvage 30% vs. 72%, P = 0.0001) and those with absent or audible Doppler ankle blood flow (limb salvage 37% vs. 78%, P = 0.0001) confirmed that the severity of the initial ischaemia was a significant indicator of prognosis. The definition of acute critical ischaemia as assessed by objective measurement of Doppler pressures has been validated and can be used to divide patients into groups with critical and sub-critical ischaemia with different prognoses.