Division into stadiums
A classification according to Fontaine shows the severity of the stenosis. In stage 1 of arteriosclerosis the patient has no complaints. Stage 2a of arteriosclerosis causes pulling pain when walking more than 200 meters, stage 2b of arteriosclerosis causes pain when walking less than 200 meters.
If the patient already has pain at rest, this is stage 3. If the patient suffers a complete arterial occlusion with the corresponding areas dying off, this is called stage 4. Peripheral arterial occlusive disease is also known as shop window disease, because patients have to stop after a few metres and want to cover up their symptoms by looking through a shop window. The forced stopping after certain distances is also called intermittent claudication.
