[The potential role of oscillometric devices for ankle-brachial index measurements in clinical practice].

Introduction: Oscillometric devices in contrast to the traditional Doppler based method for ankle-brachial index measurements have promising advantages like no need for special training, faster performance, and operator independence. Aim: Comparative assessment of the oscillometric and Doppler-based ankle-brachial index measurement. Method: Ankle-brachial index measurements were performed by continuous wave Doppler and an automatic oscillometric device (BOSO ABI-system 100) in consecutive subjects. The comparative assessment was performed by Bland-Altman and ROC analysis. Results: The two kinds of measurements (734 measurements) showed a good agreement in the ankle-brachial index spectrum close to the cut-off value of 0.9. The agreement diminished below or above this value. The optimal oscillometric ankle-brachial index diagnostic cut-off value was 0.96. Conclusions: The oscillometric device is not interchangeable for Doppler devices in the whole ankle-brachial index spectrum. Nevertheless, owing to its discriminative power, the oscillometric measurement potentially has an efficient role in the screening of asymptomatic patients.