co m The last decade has seen a tremendous surge of interest in peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The prevalence of multiple risk factors, chronic nature of disease, the nonspecificity of symptoms, and lackof adequate treatment optionshaveall contributed to the large burden of disease, which is frequently unrecognized. The last issue of Cardiology Clinics devoted exclusively to peripheral vascular disease was published 9 years ago, 2 months after 9/11. Since that time, the world has quite literally changed. We have seen advertising campaigns from pharmaceutical companies about “seeing your doctor if you have PAD” come and go, and we have witnessed advances that have informed us about natural history, diagnosis, and new treatments. New guidelines for the treatment of PAD have been endorsed by many societies including the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and the Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology. This information wave has resulted in the creation of a cadre of superbly trained vascular physicians. Thus, rather than a dearth of information that was the case in 2002, there is a surfeit of information. Some may legitimately argue about the true need for yet another monograph on PAD in this environment of information overload. At a time when there is plethora of information from multiple sources, the need for resources like the Clinics is more important than ever. Cardiology Clinics has always been about distilling information