ACC/AHA Versus ESC Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Peripheral Artery Disease

Abstract

Peripheral artery disease is a common yet underdiagnosed cause of morbidity worldwide. Significant recent advances in management have resulted in new guideline creation for the diagnosis and management of peripheral artery disease in the United States and Europe. Here, we analyze each set of guidelines with special attention to those areas where the 2 groups disagree. Both groups emphasize the importance of risk factor reduction, including smoking cessation, lipid lowering, blood pressure management, and glucose control. The U.S. guidelines place additional attention on lifestyle factors, including regular physical activity and supervised exercise. The European guidelines offer a number of recommendations for revascularization in patients with limb-threatening ischemia. Both agree that more evidence is needed to understand which patients are at highest risk for tissue loss. A consistent charge to each committee fostering a similar approach to available data and more randomized studies would align recommendations across both organizations.