Resting and Post-Exercise Ankle-Brachial Index Measurements to Diagnose Asymptomatic Peripheral Arterial Disease in Middle Aged and Elderly Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients: A Pilot Study.

A significant proportion of patients with spirometry-proven COPD screened positive for asymptomatic PAD after exercise. Resting ABI may not be very sensitive to diagnose asymptomatic PAD in COPD subjects. ABI may be a reliable, sensitive and practical screening tool to assess cardiovascular risk in COPD patients. Future large-scale studies are required to confirm this finding.