PAD screening: why? whom? when? how? - a systematic review.

An estimated 237 million people suffer from peripheral arterial disease (PAD), which is associated with high morbidity and mortality, and prevalence is still increasing. Currently, we do not have any randomized trials that compare screening to no screening specifically for PAD in the general population. Presently, PAD screening is not generally established.

Phlegmasia cerulea dolens - an uncommon but alarming manifestation of deep vein thrombosis.

In phlegmasia cerulea dolens (PCD), immediate diagnosis and prompt treatment is crucial for limb salvage. Aggressive treatment options including venous intervention, thrombolysis and/or surgical thrombectomy should be considered. Due to the lack of data, the most appropriate intervention depends upon etiology of PCD, clinical presentation and patient's bleeding risk.

One simple claudication question as first step in Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) screening: A meta-analysis of the association with reduced Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) in 27,945 subjects.

Purpose And Methods: A meta-analysis using data from seven German population-based cohorts was performed by the German Epidemiological consortium of Peripheral Arterial Disease (GEPArD) to investigate whether one question about claudication is more efficient for PAD screening than established questionnaires. Claudication was defined on the basis of the answer to one question asking for pain in the leg during normal walking. This simple question was compared with established questionnaires, including the Edinburgh questionnaire.

Drug-Coated Balloon Versus Standard Balloon for Superficial Femoral Artery In-Stent Restenosis: The Randomized Femoral Artery In-Stent Restenosis (FAIR) Trial.

Background: Drug-coated balloon angioplasty (DCBA) was shown to be superior to standard balloon angioplasty (POBA) in terms of restenosis prevention for de novo superficial femoral artery disease. For in-stent restenosis, the benefit of DCBA over POBA remains uncertain.

Methods And Results: One hundred nineteen patients with superficial femoral artery in-stent restenosis and chronic limb ischemia were recruited over 34 months at 5 German clinical sites and prospectively randomized to either DCBA (n=62) or POBA (n=57).

[Future vascular medicine: inauguration of a cardiovascular hybrid concept].

The demographic developments will lead to an exponential increase of cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, technical developments of conservative and invasive treatment modalities will be added to distinguished, organ-orientated therapeutic concepts. This will also require a new orientation of vascular services.

German multicenter real-world registry of stenting for superficial femoral artery disease: clinical results and predictive factors for revascularization.

Purpose: To investigate nitinol stent treatment of superficial femoral artery (SFA) lesions and the impact of different risk factors on the need for clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR) in a large, real-world population of claudicants.

Methods: Patients presenting with symptomatic SFA stenosis >70% were consecutively enrolled in the 13-center MARIS prospective registry (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01067885).

Association of multiple biomarkers and classical risk factors with early carotid atherosclerosis: results from the Gutenberg Health Study.

Background: In the Gutenberg Health Study, a random sample of the population was scanned with vascular ultrasound for early atherosclerosis. A continuous classical risk marker model (waist circumference, HbA1c, LDL/HDL ratio, pack years and pulse pressure) was compared to a model of modern biomarkers (C-reactive protein, troponin I, N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, copeptin, mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin, and asymmetric dimethylarginine) with regard to the ability of ruling out abnormal intima-media thickness (IMT), respectively, carotid plaques.

Methods: Data of the first consecutive 5,000 participants (aged 35-74 years; 2,540 men, 2,460 women) were analyzed.

[Screening of carotid arteries before surgery: when does preoperative duplex ultrasound make sense?].

Carotid artery stenosis is a marker for generalized atherosclerosis with high cerebrovascular and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates. There is an estimated increase in prevalence of moderate stenosis for older age and male sex. Asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis is a risk factor for perioperative neurological events during general surgery.

Distal false lumen occlusion in aortic dissection with a homemade extra-large vascular plug: the candy-plug technique.

Purpose: To report a technique to create an extra-large vascular plug for occlusion of a large distal false lumen in chronic aortic dissection.

Technique: The "candy-plug" technique is demonstrated in a 58-year-old multimorbid man with a history of complicated acute type B aortic dissection and a 9-cm chronic thoracic false lumen aneurysm. The patient underwent a staged repair with a cervical debranching procedure as a first step and a thoracic endovascular aortic repair from the innominate artery to the celiac artery as a second step.

Variants of Toll-like receptor 4 predict cardiac recovery in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

The clinical course of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) varies from cardiac recovery to end stage heart failure. The etiology of this variability is largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the impact of coding polymorphisms of the innate immune protein Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) on left ventricular performance in patients with DCM.

Claudication, in contrast to angina pectoris, independently predicts mortality risk in the general population.

Background: The aim of our analyses was to investigate whether claudication and angina pectoris, each defined and based on the answer to a single question, are predictive of future mortality.

Probands And Methods: The study population consisted of 3995 subjects selected from the population-based Study of Health In Pomerania (SHIP). Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were used to analyze the association of angina pectoris and claudication with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality adjusted for major cardiovascular risk factors.

Association between chromosome 9p21 variants and the ankle-brachial index identified by a meta-analysis of 21 genome-wide association studies.

Background: Genetic determinants of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) remain largely unknown. To identify genetic variants associated with the ankle-brachial index (ABI), a noninvasive measure of PAD, we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association study data from 21 population-based cohorts.

Methods And Results: Continuous ABI and PAD (ABI ≤0.

Effects of immunoadsorption and subsequent immunoglobulin G substitution on cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Background: Recent data indicate that cardiac antibodies play an active role in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and may contribute to cardiac dysfunction in patients with DCM. The present study investigated the influence of immunoadsorption with subsequent immunoglobulin G substitution (IA/IgG) on cardiopulmonary exercise capacity in patients with DCM.

Methods: Sixty patients with DCM (New York Heart Association II-IV, left ventricular ejection fraction < or =45%) were included in this single-center university hospital-based case-control study.

Quinaprilat: a review of its pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, toxicological data and clinical application.

Background: Quinaprilat is an ACE inhibitor for intravenous use especially in patients with arterial hypertension or chronic heart failure. In contrast to the oral prodrug quinapril, it has not been approved for clinical application.

Objective: In this review, the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of quinaprilat as well as toxicological data and results of preclinical and clinical studies are summarized.

Impedance cardiography versus invasive measurements of stroke volume index in patients with chronic heart failure.

We assessed the hypothesis that non-invasive measurement of stroke volume index can replace invasive measurements in patients with chronic heart failure. Non-invasive impedance cardiography (ICG) measurements together with invasive hemodynamic thermodilution (TD) measurements were performed in 13 patients with severe chronic heart failure (NYHA III-IV). Agreement between ICG and TD regarding stroke volume index was poor.

The cardiovascular safety of tadalafil.

Tadalafil is an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 5, approved for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. Blood pressure-lowering effects of tadalafil in healthy volunteers are minimal. In patients on a broad spectrum of antihypertensive medication, severe hypotension did not occur in combination with tadalafil; however, a combination of tadalafil with any nitric oxide donor can lead to life-threatening hypotension and is, therefore, absolutely contraindicated (at least 48 h interval after last dose of tadalafil).

Percutaneous injection of thrombin for the treatment of pseudoaneurysms: the German multicentre registry.

Aims: False aneurysms can be treated surgically or by ultrasound guided manual compression. Another method is to inject thrombin into the aneurysm under ultrasound guidance. We evaluated safety and efficacy of this approach in a multicentre registry.

Haemodynamic effects of intravenous quinaprilat in comparison to sodium nitroprusside in patients with chronic heart failure.

We compared the haemodynamic effects of intravenous boluses of the ACE inhibitor quinaprilat with an intravenous infusion of sodium nitroprusside in 23 patients with chronic heart failure (NYHA Class III or IV). At the highest drug doses, sodium nitroprusside significantly increased stroke volume index (+6.63 ml/m(2), p=0.

Hemodynamic effects of alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist, doxazosin, in patients with chronic congestive heart failure.

Purpose: Non-selective alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists have not demonstrated significant beneficial effects in chronic heart failure. Previous studies with the selective alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist, doxazosin, led to conflicting results. We assessed the hypothesis that treatment with doxazosin adjuvant to standard oral therapy results in significant increase in cardiac index in patients with chronic heart failure.

Pharmacokinetics and hemodynamic effects of the phosphodiesterase III inhibitor saterinone in patients with chronic heart failure.

Unlabelled: The introduction of PDE III-inhibitors has been a major innovation for the intravenous drug treatment of patients suffering from heart failure. In this study, the pharmacokinetics and hemodynamic effects of the PDE III-inhibitor saterinone were examined in twelve male patients with severe chronic heart failure.

Methods: Saterinone was given by intravenous infusion for 24 hours at a rate of 1.

Acute hemodynamic effects of beta-blockers in patients with severe congestive heart failure: comparison of celiprolol and esmolol.

The present study was designed to investigate, in patients with severe heart failure, the dose-dependent acute hemodynamic effects of celiprolol versus those of esmolol. Celiprolol is a beta 1 -receptor blocker with vasodilating properties, whereas esmolol is an ultra-short-acting beta 1 -blocker. Included were 14 patients with decompensated chronic heart failure (NYHA class IV) due to coronary heart disease (n = 8) or to dilated cardiomyopathy (n = 6).

Saterinone, dobutamine, and sodium nitroprusside: comparison of cardiovascular profiles in patients with congestive heart failure.

The acute hemodynamic effects of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) III inhibitor saterinone were compared with dobutamine and sodium nitroprusside in 12 patients with idiopathic congestive cardiomyopathy (NYHA III). Hemodynamic measurements were obtained with a Swan-Ganz thermodilution catheter. At the peak of its dose-response curve, saterinone induced an increase in cardiac index (+102%), stroke volume (+97%), and heart rate (+6%), paralleled by a decrease in pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (-46%), right atrial pressure (-51%), pulmonary arterial pressure (systolic -32%, diastolic -45%, mean -38%), systemic blood pressure (systolic -3%, diastolic -13%, mean -9%), systemic vascular resistance (-54%), and pulmonary vascular resistance (-58%).