MD Podiatrist Discusses Critical Limb Ischemia
According to Daniel Michaels, DPM, “Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) is a condition which develops when your arteries become severely clogged. This clogging process involves the deposition of atherosclerotic plaque inside arteries. As more of this material builds up, as the PAD increases in severity, at some point it becomes “˜Critical Limb Ischemia’ and, as the name implies, this can be a serious situation.”
“Although it is an extension of PAD, CLI carries with it some very dangerous repercussions. Those with critical limb ischemia have a higher rate of heart disease, since blood vessels throughout the body will be affected by this process. For this reason, CLI is strongly associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as cigarette smoking, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, and hypertension. CLI represents the most aggressive form of peripheral vascular disease, with a lower survival rate than heart failure, stroke, and most cancers,” says Dr. Michaels.