Long-Term Outcomes of Peripheral Artery Disease in Veterans: Analysis of the Peripheral Artery Disease Long-Term Survival Study (PEARLS).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Contemporary research in peripheral artery disease (PAD) remains limited due to lack of a national registry and low accuracy of diagnosis codes to identify patients with PAD.

Methods

Leveraging a novel natural language processing system that identifies PAD with high accuracy using ankle-brachial index and toe-brachial index values, we created a registry of 103 748 patients with new-onset PAD in the Veterans Health Administration. Study end points include mortality, cardiovascular events (hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction or stroke) and limb events (hospitalization for critical limb ischemia or major amputation) and were identified using Veterans Affairs and non-Veterans Affairs encounters.

Results

The mean age was 70.6 years; 97.3% were male,

SUBMITTER: Girotra S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12132885 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature