Artery Disease Testing & Diagnoses: Ankle Test

A 15-minute test that measures blood flow through the ankle can help identify people with peripheral artery disease, researchers in North Carolina said.

The test, called an ankle brachial index, could be helpful in screening people who have already had a stroke or transient ischmic attack, the study by researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, suggests.

People in those two groups are at risk of suffering another stroke, transient attack or heart attack that could be fatal, Dr. Souvik Sen, the study's lead investigator, said.

The ankle test uses a device similar to a blood pressure cuff to measure blood flow and then compares it with blood flow in the arm. Reduced blood flow is considered a indicator of peripheral artery disease, Sen said in a release Thursday.