Listing 4.12
Peripheral arterial disease
This listing covers blocked arteries in the legs (peripheral arterial disease) that cause leg pain when walking that goes away with rest (intermittent claudication).
Read the full plain-language explanation
The disease must be shown by proper imaging or vascular studies, and blood pressure measurements in the leg must meet one of four thresholds comparing ankle or toe pressures to arm pressure or to exercise response. You need only one of A, B, C, or D.
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What Listing 4.12 asks for
What SSA looks for — see the 4 items
We will check your records against each of these. Every item comes straight from SSA's own listing.
- Path A (you need only one of A, B, C, or D): the blood pressure at your ankle, divided by the blood pressure at your arm (both taken while lying on your back), is less than 0.50.
- SSA uses the higher of the two ankle readings and the higher arm reading.
Read the original wording
Path A (you need only one of A, B, C, or D): the blood pressure at your ankle, divided by the blood pressure at your arm (both taken while lying on your back), is less than 0.50. SSA uses the higher of the two ankle readings and the higher arm reading.
(Listing 4.12, criterion A)
Path B: after a treadmill exercise Doppler test, the blood pressure at your ankle drops by 50% or more from its pre-exercise level, and it takes 10 minutes or more to come back to that level.
(Listing 4.12, criterion B)
- Path C: the blood pressure measured at your big toe while at rest is less than 30 mm Hg.
- This path is especially for people with diabetes or artery calcification, whose ankle readings can be falsely high, but anyone with PAD may use it.
Read the original wording
Path C: the blood pressure measured at your big toe while at rest is less than 30 mm Hg. This path is especially for people with diabetes or artery calcification, whose ankle readings can be falsely high, but anyone with PAD may use it.
(Listing 4.12, criterion C)
Path D: the blood pressure at your big toe divided by the blood pressure at your arm, both at rest, is less than 0.40.
(Listing 4.12, criterion D)
How long it must last:
- No listing-specific duration is stated; the general rule applies — the impairment must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 continuous months.
- Findings from before peripheral bypass grafting will not be used to assess current severity after surgery.
Read the original wording
No listing-specific duration is stated; the general rule applies — the impairment must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 continuous months. Findings from before peripheral bypass grafting will not be used to assess current severity after surgery.