Background: The occasional relationship between arterial atherosclerosis of lower limbs and atherosclerosis of intestinal arteries has not been fully studied yet. Objective: To assess the presence of lesions with ≥ 70% stenosis in the superior mesenteric artery and/or in the celiac trunk in patients with chronic obstructive arteriopathy of the lower limbs using vascular ultrasound (Doppler). Method: Two groups were involved, a study group and a control group, each comprising 60 patients (40 men and 20 women). The study group consisted of patients with chronic obstructive arterial disease of the lower limbs, limiting intermittent claudication or rest pain, and/or trophic lesions of the extremities but no gastrointestinal complaints. The control group comprised patients without obstructive arterial disease of the lower limbs or gastrointestinal complaints. The presence of diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, obesity, angina/infarct, smoking or dyslipidemia was considered a risk factor. All patients were submitted to vascular ultrasound of the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery. The patients of the study group were divided according to the presence of limiting intermittent claudication (n = 12) or trophic lesion and/or rest pain (n = 48). Results: A significant association was found between age (p = 0.04) and presence of ischemic cardiopathy (p = 0.04) with atherosclerosis of the superior mesenteric artery. The risk factors showed no significant association with presence of stenosis of the celiac trunk. A significant association was found between the presence of arteriopathy of the lower limbs and stenotic lesion of the superior mesenteric artery (p = 0.006) and the celiac trunk (p < 0.001). Conclusions: On vascular ultrasound, a finding of peripheral arteriopathy of the lower limbs suggests the presence of stenotic lesion in the superior mesenteric artery and /or the celiac trunk. The atherosclerosis in the superior mesenteric artery is associated with ischemic cardiopathy and advanced age.
Stenosis; vascular ultrasound; superior mesenteric artery; celiac trunk
