Dementia in Patients Suffering from Critical Limb Ischemia

Background Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a disease that is most prevalent in the elderly population. This group of patients includes patients suffering from comorbidities such as dementia. Mortality rates of both CLI and dementia are higher when compared with the nonaffected population. These demented vascular patients are often deemed unfit for surgery and at risk of respiratory and cardiovascular adverse events. Unfortunately, current literature is lacking in to determining the optimal treatment for demented patients suffering from CLI. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of dementia in patients suffering from CLI, with special interest in the mortality rates of these patients. Methods Between January 2012 and October 2015, all patients aged over 70 and suffering from CLI were retrospectively reviewed in the Amphia Hospital, Breda, The Netherlands. Patients with diagnosed dementia before admission by a geriatrician were included in this study. Baseline characteristics were retrieved from patients' medical charts. Primary end point of this study is mortality and the secondary end points include adverse events, reinterventions, and limb salvage. Results A total of 369 patients suffering from CLI were diagnosed between January 2012 and October 2015. Thirty-one patients (8%) diagnosed with both dementia and CLI were included in this study with a mean age of 82 years old. Conservative therapy was selected as the therapy of choice in 61% of the patients. There was a mortality rate of 32% after 6 months, increasing to 52% after 1 year and 92% after 2 years. Limb salvage rates after 30 days were 84%, dropping to 77% after 6 months. Conclusions Eight percent of CLI patients aged above 70 years old are suffering from dementia. Demented patients suffering from CLI are a frail group of elderly patients with a high mortality rate of 52% after 1-year follow-up. Therapy of choice should probably be selected following mutual agreement between vascular surgeons, individual patients, and their families, taking postoperative quality of life, life expectation, and anatomical arterial lesions into account.