Pocket Doppler and vascular laboratory equipment yield comparable results for ankle brachial index measurement

Consecutive patients with symptoms of PAD referred for ABI measurement between December 2006 and August 2007 were included. Resting ABI was determined with a pocket Doppler, followed by ABI measurement with automatic vascular laboratory equipment, performed by an experienced vascular technician. The leg with the lowest ABI was used for analysis.From 99 patients the mean resting ABI was 0.80 measured with the pocket Doppler and 0.85 measured with vascular laboratory equipment. A Bland-Altman plot demonstrated great correspondence between the two methods. The mean difference between the two methods was 0.05 (P < .001). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed no dependency of the difference on either the average measured ABI or affected or unaffected leg.Since the small, albeit statistically significant, difference between the two methods is not clinically relevant, our study demonstrates that ABI measurements with pocket Doppler and vascular laboratory equipment yield comparable results and can replace each other. Results support the use of the pocket Doppler for screening of PAD, allowing initiation of cardiovascular risk factor management in primary care, provided that the equipment operator is experienced.The ankle brachial index (ABI) is useful in the diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). With a sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 98%, respectively, ABI is especially helpful in establishing lower extremity PAD [1,2]. The ABI has become increasingly important as a screening tool for identification of patients with asymptomatic PAD [3], which is an independent marker for adverse cardiovascular outcome [4]. A patient with a low ABI has a 5.5-fold increased risk of cardiovascular death and a 2.5-fold higher risk of coronary artery disease and of stroke [5]. Current guidelines recommend initiation of secondary prevention measures in all patients with a screening ABI value < 0.9 and treatment of atherosclerosis risk factors [3]. Given the importance