According to THE SAGE GROUP, Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) is a Major and Growing Worldwide Problem

BEAUFORT, SC, June 1, 2017 (BUSINESS WIRE) –At the 13th annual Critical Limb Ischemia Session of the New Cardiovascular Horizons (NCVH) meeting in New Orleans, Mary L. Yost, President of THE SAGE GROUP, spoke on “The Scope of Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI): A Worldwide Problem.”

“Conservatively, 22-30 million people currently suffer from CLI worldwide,” stated Yost. “Over the next 15 years, CLI is expected to increase rapidly due to global aging and the epidemic of diabetes.”

CLI, or ‘end-stage’ peripheral artery disease (PAD), is characterized by rest pain, ulcers and gangrene. Studies in the U.S. and Europe demonstrate that a growing percentage of PAD patients are being treated for CLI. In the U.S., the percentage has doubled since 2006.

Commenting on disease costs, Yost stated, “CLI is expensive to treat, accounting for 55%-65% of PAD costs, or an estimated $248 billion in the U.S. CLI is more costly to treat than less severe disease, which combined with the increasing number of patients treated, has resulted in CLI becoming a significant global economic burden.”

“Costs increase with disease severity,” Yost explained. “Rutherford 6 patients with gangrene cost more to treat than Rutherford 4 and 5 with rest pain and ulcers respectively, which in turn, cost more than intermittent claudication (IC) patients. CLI expenses are driven up further by undertreatment of risk factors, which increases morbidity, mortality and leads to expensive cardiovascular hospitalizations.”

“Amazingly, revascularization is underutilized in CLI patients, even versus IC patients,” she declared. “This is not confined to the U.S., but is a worldwide problem. CLI patients are frequently treated with primary amputation, which is more expensive than revascularization. Higher hospital costs of major amputation reflect more frequent and expensive complications, in-hospital mortality and revision procedures.”

“The tragedy is that earlier diagnosis of CLI and appropriate treatment, could save lives and limbs worldwide,” concluded Ms. Yost. “This would also save a tremendous amount to money.”

Additional information on NCVH and the agenda can be found at: http://www.ncvh.org/meetings/

THE SAGE GROUP, a research and consulting company, specializes in peripheral vascular disease in the lower limbs, specifically chronic venous disease (CVD), PAD, CLI, IC, diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) and the costs and consequences of amputation.

Additional information: www.thesagegroup.us.

SOURCE: THE SAGE GROUP

THE SAGE GROUP, Beaufort SC
Mary Yost, (404) 520-6652
yost@thesagegroup.us