Certified Wound Care Nurse (CWCN) Practice Exam

The patient population that may present falsely elevated ankle-brachial indexes (ABIs) due to vessel calcification is primarily patients with atherosclerosis. In this condition, the arteries can become calcified, particularly in older adults or those with significant cardiovascular risk factors. This calcification leads to stiffening of the blood vessels, which may result in elevated pressures when performing the ABI test. When the ankle-brachial index is calculated, the blood pressure in the ankle is compared to the blood pressure in the arm to assess peripheral artery disease. However, in the presence of calcified vessels, the ABI readings can misleadingly indicate normal or increased blood flow to the lower extremities, as the stiffened vessels do not collapse under pressure like healthy, non-calcified vessels would. This can result in a misinterpretation of the patient's vascular health, suggesting that they do not have significant arterial occlusion when they may actually have compromised blood flow. While diabetes and other conditions like neuropathy and chronic venous insufficiency can lead to various vascular complications, they do not specifically lead to the same degree of vessel calcification that is characteristic of atherosclerosis, thus impacting ABI readings differently.