The incidence of asymptomatic extracoronary atherosclerosis in patients with coronary atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a systemic vascular disease that can produce pathologies in any organ. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of asymptomatic peripheral atherosclerosis (PA) in patients symptomatic for angina and myocardial infarction affected by coronary atherosclerosis (CAD). 315 patients (268 male and 47 female) aged between 36 and 69 years, asymptomatic for claudicatio and cerebral ischaemic disease, underwent selective coronary angiography to detect coronary stenosis > or = 50% and Echo-Color-Doppler examination of the epiaortic trunks and upper and lower limb arteries to detect peripheral stenosis > or = 30%. In the total population the incidence of PA in patients with CAD was 23% but in patients with trivascular CAD it was 32%. These data suggest that in patients with trivascular CAD it is necessary to investigate peripheral circulation as, also in asymptomatic patients, polydistrictual atherosclerosis was frequent.