In Recognition of National Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Awareness Month, THE SAGE GROUP LLC Comments on the Economic Burden of the Disease

ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–According to research conducted by THE SAGE GROUP, in 2015 almost 20
million Americans suffered from PAD representing an economic burden of
$212-$389 billion.

“Almost 15 years ago we wrote that PAD was underestimated,
underdiagnosed and undertreated,” stated Mary L. Yost, President of THE
SAGE GROUP LLC. “Unfortunately, this is still true.”

Reflecting on the current state of PAD and the changes that have
occurred Yost observed, “While there have been many positive
developments, especially technological innovations in treatment, we have
seen many disappointments. PAD is still an ‘orphan disease’ in terms of
knowledge and awareness, as well as in treatment.”

According to Ms. Yost, “The availability of new endovascular
technologies and access techniques now enables skilled
interventionalists to treat almost all patients and all lesions, whether
located above- or below-the-knee. In addition, multidisciplinary limb
preservation programs have been established in many hospitals, resulting
in a significant reduction in PAD-related amputations.”

“However, progress in increasing disease awareness among the public and
the gatekeeper physicians has been slower than we anticipated,” she
cautioned. “The result is continued underdiagnosis and undertreatment,
causing unnecessary mortality and morbidity.”

“PAD is not just a leg problem. It is also a heart and a brain problem,”
explained Yost. “Within 5 years, approximately 50% of PAD patients
experience a heart attack or stroke, 30% of these are fatal. This
mortality rate exceeds that of breast cancer and coronary artery
disease.”

If diagnosed in the early stages, PAD patients can be treated with
appropriate lifestyle modifications and drug therapies to reduce the
risks of heart attack and stroke; exercise therapy to reduce the pain of
claudication; or if blockages are more severe, with minimally invasive
revascularization technologies. However, compared with coronary disease
patients, risk factor treatments are underutilized in PAD patients.

Describing the current therapeutic situation for critical limb ischemia
(CLI), the most severe stage of the disease, Ms. Yost observed,
“Frequently, there is a significant disconnect between what is possible
technologically, and the actual treatments offered to CLI patients.”

“Even though amputations have declined, primary amputation is often the
first, and the only treatment offered for CLI,” Ms. Yost continued.
“Sixty to 70% of CLI patients who undergo major amputation have no
attempt at revascularization prior to the amputation. Furthermore,
although an angiogram has been shown to be highly protective against
major amputation, reducing the odds by 90%, almost half of major
amputations are performed without this basic diagnostic evaluation.”

THE SAGE GROUP, a research and consulting company, specializes in
atherosclerotic and venous disease in the lower limbs, specifically PAD,
CLI, intermittent claudication (IC) and ischemic diabetic foot ulcers
(DFU). The most recent research focuses on the costs and consequences of
amputation and the epidemiology and costs chronic venous disease.
Additional information: www.thesagegroup.us.

Contacts

THE SAGE GROUP, Atlanta
Harrington Witherspoon, 404-816-0746
witherspoon@thesagegroup.us