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Symptoms of peripheral artery disease include cramping in the hips and legs, leg weakness or numbness, and unusual cold sensations in the feet and lower legs.
However, cardiology physicians need to perform numerous tests before they can diagnose a patient who's exhibiting these symptoms with peripheral artery disease.
Patients exhibiting the symptoms mentioned above should be aware of what the process of diagnosing peripheral artery disease involves. The following are four things to know when you're experiencing peripheral artery disease symptoms.
A cardiology physician will question a patient on his or her personal health history as part of a diagnosis.
It's important for your cardiologist to learn some details about your medical history before you can be diagnosed with peripheral artery disease.
Your physician will ask you questions about symptoms you've experienced that could indicate peripheral artery disease. These include cramping and pain in the legs, especially after exercise.
Your physician will also want to know about possibly related medical conditions you've suffered from including heart disease, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. Two other factors your physician should know about include whether you are or were a smoker or have a family history of peripheral artery disease.
An ankle-brachial index test is one method of testing for peripheral artery disease.
One of the most basic initial tests that is used in diagnosing peripheral artery disease is an ankle-brachial index test. When this test is performed, your physician checks your blood pressure at the ankle. This blood pressure measurement is compared with the blood pressure measured in your arm.
If your ankle blood pressure is lower than your arm blood pressure or vice versa, this could be indicative of a blockage in the leg or arm arteries. The discovery of such a blockage likely means that you have peripheral artery disease.
Peripheral artery disease can be diagnosed through blood tests.
Blood tests are usually performed on patients who are suspected of having peripheral artery disease. These blood tests are analyzed in a cardiovascular lab to determine if the patient in question has unusually high triglyceride and cholesterol levels in his or her blood.
Other diagnosis methods include angiography tests.
Angiography tests are another important tool that cardiology physicians can use to diagnose peripheral artery disease.
During an angiography test, a type of dye is injected into a patient's blood vessel so that the doctor can see how blood is moving through a patient's arteries and blood vessels. MRI scans and/or X-rays are then used to visualize the condition of the arteries to test for and diagnose peripheral artery disease.
For more information, contact a company like Desert Cardiovascular Consultants.
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