Angioplasty and patients with diabetes

The sites of atheromatous narrowing vary. Some people get apparently solitary stenoses while others get multiple lesions in many vessels. Large arteries only are affected, such as the common iliac artery, with entirely normal-looking vessels distally; or the disease may be in all the leg arteries, both large and small. It is known that diabetic patients are particularly prone to occlusion of small arteries in the feet, at the moment well beyond the reach of surgery or even interventional radiology, but they also get more atheroma in the medium-sized and large vessels of the pelvis and legs than non-diabetic patients". It is angioplasty of these lesions which can make all the difference to the relief of rest pain, the healing of ulcers distally and the general quality oflife.