Cause of circulatory disorders
The main cause of circulatory disorders is arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which accounts for about 95 percent of cases. The complaints of those affected range from exercise-dependent pain with restriction of walking distance (window shopper’s disease) to wounds requiring amputation. According to the German Society for Angiology – Society for Vascular Medicine, around 4.5 million people in Germany suffer from peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
Diagnosis and treatment
The first diagnostic step when visiting our outpatient clinic is a physical examination. Then the blood pressureThe pressure in the blood vessels caused by the pumping action of the heart and the vascular resistance. in the legs and feet is measured with a Doppler method. The affected body region is then examined with a modern ultrasoundHigh-frequency sound waves that are inaudible to the human ear. Ultrasound is used for the non-invasive examination of the heart. See also Sonography. device using Doppler and colour duplex sonographyUltrasound procedure in which, in addition to the two-dimensional image, the blood flow within the vessel is also displayed. This allows diseased vessel areas to be detected because of the changes in blood flow.. If there are findings here that require therapeutic interventionA quick medical measure to slow down the progression of a disease, e.g. with the help of the cardiac catheter (interventional cardiac catheter technique) an acutely occluded coronary vessel is reopened and thus the spread of the heart attack area is stopped., an imaging procedure (computer tomography or magnetic resonance imagingMagnetic resonance imaging, MRI. Diagnostic procedure without the use of X-rays. Magnetic fields are used to produce images of organs and body structures.) is carried out. This allows better planning of the subsequent therapy. VascularConcerning the blood vessels. occlusions or stenoses can then be treated interventionally in a catheter procedure. In contrast to an operation, no anaesthetic is required for this. Often, a short stay of just a few days in hospital is enough to achieve a significant improvement in symptoms. Further outpatient follow-up can then take place in our outpatient clinic. Care in our outpatient clinic also serves the conservative treatment of the diseases. Here, no interventions are used, but rather therapy by means of medicationAdministration and dosage of a medicine. or gait training is administered. Good conservative therapy can spare many patients the need for surgery.
Analogous to the occlusive disease of the peripheralBeing far at the edge, not at the centre of the body, far from the heart, e.g. hands and feet, fingers, etc. arteries, narrowing can also occur in the arteries supplying the brain. Often patients do not notice any symptoms. This is precisely what increases the risk of dangerous consequences such as a strokeOcclusion of a cerebral artery or rupture of a vessel with subsequent cerebral haemorrhage. The affected nerve cells die due to lack of oxygen, leading to permanent loss and paralysis..
