Traditional and non-traditional risk factors for peripheral artery disease development/progression in patients with type 2 diabetes: the Rio de Janeiro type 2 diabetes cohort study

Background The prognostic importance of non-traditional risk factors for peripheral artery disease (PAD) development/progression is scarcely studied in diabetes. We investigated if carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) added prognostic information beyond traditional cardiovascular risk markers for PAD outcomes. Methods Ankle-brachial index (ABI) was measured at baseline and after a median of 91 months of follow-up in 681 individuals with type 2 diabetes. Multivariate Cox regressions examined the associations between the candidate variables and the outcome. PAD development/progression was defined by a reduction in ABI ≥ 0.15 (to a level Results Seventy-seven patients developed/progressed PAD: 50 reduced ABI to Conclusions Increased CIMT and aortic stiffness are associated with greater risks of developing/progressing PAD, beyond traditional risk factors, in type 2 diabetes.