Metabolic syndrome, a group of cardiovascular risk factors related to insulin resistance, is a major determinant of cardiovascular mortality.

Intermittent claudication is a symptom of an early stage of atherosclerosis.

The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in patients with intermittent claudication and its correlation with age, gender, localization of arterial obstruction and association with coronary artery disease.

Studies correlating metabolic syndrome and several illnesses are being published, especially affections associated with atherosclerosis, like coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral arterial disease.

The term peripheral arterial disease, however, refers to several stages of the development of atherosclerosis in the extremities, comprising since asymptomatic patients as far as individuals with critical ischemia.

Intermittent claudication is a symptom of an early stage of atherosclerosis, when medical interventions may still prevent the progression of the disease. Despite the importance of a precocious diagnosis of metabolic syndrome to initiate adequate treatment, its prevalence among these patients is not well determined in the literature.

This is the biggest casuistic in the literature as far as we know.

Inclusion Criteria:

• adult patients with complaints compatible with intermittent claudication of the lower limbs, absence or weakness of arterial pulses on the limb or limbs that are limiting deambulation, ankle-brachial index simila or lower than 0.9

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients with critical limb ischaemia

Adult patients of the Vascular and Endovascular Department (Intermittent Claudicantion Group)