Ankle-Brachial Index

Measurement and Interpretation of the Ankle-Brachial Index
A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association
Victor Aboyans, MD, PhD, FAHA, Chair; Michael H. Criqui, MD, MPH, FAHA, Co-Chair;
Pierre Abraham, MD, PhD; Matthew A. Allison, MD, MPH, FAHA; Mark A. Creager, MD, FAHA; Curt Diehm, MD, PhD; F. Gerry R. Fowkes, MBChB, PhD, FAHA; William R. Hiatt, MD, FAHA; Bjo¨rn Jo¨nsson, MD, PhD; Philippe Lacroix, MD; Benoıˆt Marin, MD; Mary M. McDermott, MD, FAHA; Lars Norgren, MD, PhD; Reena L. Pande, MD, PhD, FAHA;
Pierre-Marie Preux, MD, PhD; H.E. (Jelle) Stoffers, MD, PhD; Diane Treat-Jacobson, PhD, RN, FAHA; on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Peripheral Vascular Disease, Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Cardiovascular Nursing, Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention, and Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia
The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is the ratio of the systolic blood pressure (SBP) measured at the ankle to that measured at the brachial artery. Originally described by Winsor1 in 1950, this index was initially proposed for the noninvasive diagnosis of lower-extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD).2,3 Later, it was shown that the ABI is an indicator of atherosclerosis at other vascular sites and can serve as a prognostic marker for cardiovascular events and functional impairment, even in the
absence of symptoms of PAD.4–6