Peripheral Arterial Disease

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a problem with blood flow in the arteries. Arteries carry blood to the muscles and organs in your body. When you have diseased arteries, they become narrow or blocked. The most common cause of narrow or blocked arteries is fatty deposits (also called atherosclerosis). In order to qualify the claimant must have peripheral arterial disease along with claudication. Claudication is pain in the calf or thigh muscle that occurs after you have walked a certain distance, such as a block or two. The pain stops after you rest for a while.

For this condition to be severe enough to meet the Social Security Administration's listing the claimant must have:

• Intermittent claudication, and also an inability to see the common femoral or deep femoral artery using arteriography; OR
• Intermittent claudication with marked impairment of peripheral arterial circulation as determined by Doppler studies.