THE SAGE GROUP LLC Announces that Mary L. Yost, President, is a Featured Panelist in the Medscape Program Titled “The Price of PAD: The Clinical and Economic Consequences of Amputation”

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--THE SAGE GROUP LLC announced today that Mary L. Yost was a panelist in the recently released Medscape Continuing Medical Education (CME) Program Titled “The Price of PAD: The Clinical and Economic Consequences of Amputation”.

“The probability of major amputation depends on who you are and where you live, the ‘Amputation Lottery’. Amputation varies according to race, socioeconomic status, age, sex, type of hospital and geographic location.”

Moderated by Dr. Jihad A. Mustapha (Metro Health Hospital Wyoming, MI), a leader in amputation prevention and limb preservation, the discussion focuses on the continuing use of major amputation as a primary treatment for peripheral artery disease (PAD). Approximately 25% of critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients undergo major amputation.

Above the knee and below the knee amputations are frequently the only treatment that CLI patients undergo. Recent research has shown that 71% of the major amputations performed in Medicare patients were performed without any attempt at revascularization.

Although an angiogram has been shown to be highly protective against major amputation, reducing the odds by 90%, almost half of major amputations are performed without this basic diagnostic evaluation.

According to Ms. Yost, “The probability of major amputation depends on who you are and where you live, the ‘Amputation Lottery’. Amputation varies according to race, socioeconomic status, age, sex, type of hospital and geographic location.”

The discussion explores possible reasons for these practices as well as the high costs of amputation in terms of patient mortality and morbidity.

Released August 30, 2012, this program can be found on the Medscape site at: http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/769563. In order to view the program, visitors who are not previously registered will need to fill out a simple, free registration form.

About Medscape

Medscape is a part of WebMD Health Professional Network that includes theHeart.org and eMedicine.com. Medscape offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the Web's most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools.

About THE SAGE GROUP

THE SAGE GROUP, a research and consulting company, specializes in atherosclerotic disease in the lower limbs, specifically PAD (Peripheral Artery Disease), CLI (Critical Limb Ischemia) and ALI (Acute Limb Ischemia) as well as ischemic diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). The most recent research focuses on quantifying the economic costs of PAD and PAD-associated amputations.

For additional information visit www.thesagegroup.us.