Abstract:During exercise, patients with intermittent claudication (IC) have decreased limb arterial blood pressure that recovers during rest. A novel method for assessing dynamic recovery of function is measurement of the hemodynamic response after exercise. Cilostazol (Pletal  ), a new agent for the treatment of IC, increases walking distance and may decrease ischemic burden. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of cilostazol versus placebo on hemodynamic measurements after exercise-induced ischemia in patients with IC.Two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies with similar inclusion/exclusion criteria and duration (24 weeks) were pooled. Patients walked on a treadmill at 2.0 miles/h (3.2 km/h) on a 12.5% grade until the claudication-limited maximal walking distance (MWD) was reached. Anterior and posterior tibial pressures were measured with Doppler ultrasound at baseline and at 1, 5, and 9 min during recovery. Area under the curve (AUC), a measure of the time course of recovery of systolic pressure after exercise-induced ischemia, and ankle-brachial index (ABI) were calculated and compared using analysis of variance (ANOVA).All three treatment groups (308 patients randomized to cilostazol 100 mg bid, 303 to cilostazol 50 mg bid, and 299 to placebo) had similar baseline characteristics. Mean post-exercise AUC for cilostazol 100 mg and 50 mg bid versus placebo increased by 0.31 (p = 0.001) and 0.26 (p = 0.004), respectively. Mean resting ABI increased by 0.03 (p = 0.0039) and 0.04 (p = 0.0001) in the cilostazol 100 mg and 50 mg bid groups, respectively.In conclusion, following 24 weeks of treatment, cilostazol increased the ABI at rest and improved the recovery time of ankle pressures post-exercise.