A study of the semeiological reliability of dorsalis pedis artery and posterior tibial artery in the diagnosis of lower limb arterial occlusive disease.

Routine diagnosis of suspected occlusive arterial disease of the lower limbs are often based on the pulse absence at the dorsalis pedis artery. However many of these diagnoses are not confirmed after more thorough tests, and this fact arises the problem of the semeiological reliability of the above mentioned artery. Researches carried out by several authors in normal individuals on the dorsalis pedis artery yielded controversial results. Three hundred-sixty subjects free of occlusive arterial disease were then examined by means of clinical and Doppler investigation in order to assess the semeiological reliability of the dorsalis pedis artery in the diagnosis of occlusive arteriopathy of lower limbs, when compared to the posterior tibial one. The conclusion is drawn that a greater semeiological reliability must be attributed to the latter, due to its lesser "absence" incidence.