What is the difference between pvd and atherosclerosis

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CIS Blog. See All. Apr 24 April 24 This uses high-frequency sound waves and a computer to create images of blood vessels, tissues, and organs. Your doctor may use the Doppler technique to measure and assess the flow of blood. Faintness or absence of sound may mean blood flow is blocked. Magnetic resonance angiography MRA. This noninvasive test uses a combination of a large magnet, radio frequencies, and a computer to produce detailed images of organs and structures in the body.

Your doctor injects a special dye during the procedure so that blood vessels are more visible. Treadmill exercise test. For t his test, you will walk on a treadmill so your doctor can monitor blood circulation during exercise.

Photoplethysmography PPG. This exam is comparable to the ankle brachial index except that it uses a very tiny blood pressure cuff around the toe and a PPG sensor infrared light to evaluate blood flow near the surface of the skin to record waveforms and blood pressure measurements. Your doctor can then compare these measurements to the systolic blood pressure in the arm.

Pulse volume recording PVR waveform analysis. Your doctor uses this technique to calculate blood volume changes in the legs using a recording device that displays the results as a waveform. Reactive hyperemia test. This test is similar to an ABI or a treadmill test but used for people who can't walk on a treadmill. While you are lying on your back, your doctor takes comparative blood pressure measurements on the thighs and ankles to determine any decrease between the sites. The main goals for treatment of PVD are to control the symptoms and halt the progression of the disease to lower the risk for heart attack, stroke, and other complications.

Lifestyle changes to control risk factors, including regular exercise, proper nutrition, and quitting smoking. Aggressive treatment of existing conditions that may worsen PVD, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Medicines to improve blood flow, such as antiplatelet agents blood thinners and medicines that relax the blood vessel walls. Vascular surgery —a bypass graft using a blood vessel from another part of the body or a tube made of synthetic material is placed in the area of the blocked or narrowed artery to reroute the blood flow.

The term peripheral vascular disease encompasses several different conditions including: Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque inside the artery wall.

Plaque is made up of deposits of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium, and fibrin. The artery wall then becomes thickened and loses its elasticity. Symptoms may develop gradually, and may be few, as the plaque builds up in the artery. However, when a major artery to the heart or brain is blocked, a heart attack or stroke may occur. Buerger disease thromboangiitis obliterans.

This is a chronic inflammatory disease in the arteries. It leads to blood clots in the small- and medium-sized arteries of the arms or legs, eventually blocking them. This disease most commonly occurs in men between ages 20 and 40 who smoke cigarettes.

Symptoms include pain in the legs or feet, clammy cool skin, and a diminished sense of heat and cold. Chronic venous insufficiency. This is a prolonged condition in which 1 or more veins don't adequately return blood from the legs back to the heart. It's due to valve damage in the veins. Symptoms include discoloration of the skin and ankles, swelling of the legs, and feelings of dull, aching pain, heaviness, or cramping in the legs. Venous thromboembolism VTE. They use the term VTE because the 2 conditions are very closely related.

And, because their prevention and treatment are also closely related. Deep vein thrombosis DVT. DVT is a blood clot in a large vein deep inside a leg, arm, or other part of the body. These blood clots are common in those who have had long periods of inactivity like sitting while traveling or bed rest after surgery.

Symptoms may include pain, swelling, and redness in the affected arm or leg. If you have these symptoms, call your health care provider. Pulmonary embolism PE. PE is a blood clot in the lungs. The most common cause is a part of a clot that breaks off and travels to the lungs.

In the lungs, the clot can cut off the flow of blood. This is a medical emergency and may cause death. Common symptoms are chest pain, trouble breathing, fast heartbeat, sweating, coughing may cough up blood , and fainting. More serious vein diseases can be caused by thrombosis , which is the formation of blood clots. These clots impair proper blood flow, just as atherosclerosis does, but they are in many ways more dangerous because they may not stay where they formed.

With deep vein thrombosis DVT , the clots can break off from where they started and travel to the lungs. This can lead to a pulmonary embolism, which can be fatal. Lymphedema is a condition that blocks the lymph vessels and keeps them from draining fluid from tissues and supplying them with immune cells. The difference between these two terms starts to affect you personally when you go to the Internet to look up information about them, or seek doctors who can treat them. This can lead to confusion.