[Color Doppler ultrasound evaluation of a Chinese herbal formula in treating lower limb arteriosclerosis: a randomized controlled trial].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of a Chinese compound herbal medicine for reinforcing qi, activating blood circulation, expelling phlegm and dredging collaterals in treatment of lower limb arteriosclerosis. METHODS: The outpatients and inpatients with lower limb arteriosclerosis from Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine were randomly divided into control group and treatment group after color Doppler ultrasound inspection, and there were 30 cases in each group. The patients in the treatment group were treated with simvastatin and a Chinese compound herbal medicine for reinforcing qi, activating blood circulation, expelling phlegm and dredging collaterals, and the patients in the control group were treated only with simvastatin. The color Doppler ultrasound imaging of lower limb arteries including inside diameter, intima-media thickness, and plaque area in all the patients were examined after 6-month treatment. The levels of serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were detected too. RESULTS: After the treatment, the lower limb artery intima-media thickness and artery plaque area in the treatment group decreased obviously as compared with those in the control group (P < 0.05). Color Doppler flow imaging showed that the percentage of patients with uniphase wave decreased from 26.67% (8/30) to 6.67% (2/30) in the treatment group (P < 0.05), and from 26.67% (8/30) to 16.67% (5/30) in the control group (P < 0.05) as compared with those before the treatment, and there was also a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The concentrations of serum TC and LDL in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Color Doppler ultrasound showed that the Chinese compound medicine for reinforcing qi, activating blood circulation, expelling phlegm and dredging collaterals has positive effects on lower limb arteriosclerosis.