Vascular Disease

• Do you experience aching, cramping, heaviness, or pain in your arms, feet, legs, thighs or buttocks with walking or exercise?
• Do you have painful sores or ulcers on your legs or feet that are slow to heal?
• Do you have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol?
• Are you over the age of 65 and a current or former smoker?
• Have you ever experienced temporary loss of vision in one eye, slurred speech, or weakness or numbness in one arm or leg?
• Have you ever had a procedure to treat a blockage in a blood vessel in your heart, leg or aorta?
• Do you have any family history of enlargement, aneurysm, or rupture of the aorta?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be a candidate for evaluation by our vascular specialty team.

Vascular disease can present in a variety of ways. The classic presentation of lower extremity vascular disease is progressive fatigue and burning of the leg muscles with exertion relieved with rest (termed "claudication"). This can be either one leg or both legs and may affect the thighs, buttocks, calves or lower leg. Often the symptoms may be more subtle, with loss of energy, unexplained pain. More seriously, vascular disease can lead to the presence of wounds that are slow to heal, or ulcerations and may progress to causing tissue loss or even amputation if not addressed.

Most lower extremity vascular disease can be treated with the combination of medical preventive therapy and an exercise program, which can be highly effective at relieving symptoms. The first step in assessment often involves tests to assess the severity and location of any blockages. Less commonly, you may require a procedure which may involve diagnostic angiography, therapy including stents, balloons and atherectomy plaque removal devices, or sometimes surgery. Your Virginia Heart vascular physician will discuss with you the benefits and risks of invasive treatment. Most forms of vascular disease can now be treated with minimally invasive "endovascular" techniques that have short recovery times and increasingly good outcomes. For the most complex, high risk or disease that requires open surgery, Virginia Heart has established connections with a group of high level tertiary referral center operators.