Acute Kidney Injury Due to Ureter Compression Following Iliac Venous Stenting.

Purpose: To report the occurrence of acute postrenal kidney failure caused by external ureteral obstruction after iliac venous stent placement.

Case Report: A 73-year-old male patient presented with a chronic swelling and feeling of heaviness of his right leg. The presence of venous thrombosis was excluded by duplex ultrasound (DUS).

A RAND/UCLA-Modified VAS Study on Telemedicine, Telehealth, and Virtual Care in Daily Clinical Practice of Vascular Medicine.

Telemedicine is increasingly used in several fields of healthcare, including vascular medicine. This study aimed to investigate the views of experts and propose clinical practice recommendations on the possible applications of telemedicine in vascular medicine. A clinical guidance group proposed a set of 67 clinical practice recommendations based on the synthesis of current evidence and expert opinion.

Development of a localization-based algorithm for the prediction of leg ulcer etiology.

Background: Diagnostic work-up of leg ulcers is time- and cost-intensive. This study aimed at evaluating ulcer location as a diagnostic criterium and providing a diagnostic algorithm to facilitate differential diagnosis.

Patients And Methods: The study consisted of 277 patients with lower leg ulcers.

Micro- and Macrovascular Effects of Inflammation in Peripheral Artery Disease-Pathophysiology and Translational Therapeutic Approaches.

Inflammation has a critical role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis. On the molecular level, inflammatory pathways negatively impact endothelial barrier properties and thus, tissue homeostasis. Conformational changes and destruction of the glycocalyx further promote pro-inflammatory pathways also contributing to pro-coagulability and a prothrombotic state.

Preprocedural imaging modalities in patients undergoing iliocaval venous recanalization and stent placement.

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of preinterventional imaging modalities in patients being evaluated for iliocaval venous recanalization and stent placement.

Methods: Consecutive patients with iliocaval postthrombotic obstructions or nonthrombotic iliac vein lesions (NIVL), who were scheduled for recanalization, underwent duplex ultrasound (DUS), magnetic resonance venography (MRV), multiplanar venography (MPV), and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). The diagnostic accuracies of DUS, MRV, and MPV were analyzed using IVUS as reference.

Associations between nailfold capillary aberrations and autoantibodies in children and adults with Raynaud's phenomenon.

Objective: To characterise associations between individual nailfold capillary aberrations with autoantibodies in a cross-sectional study on children and adults with Raynaud's phenomenon (RP).

Methods: Consecutive children and adults with RP and without previously known connective tissue disease (CTD) systemically underwent nailfold capillaroscopy and laboratory tests for the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA). The prevalence of individual nailfold capillary aberrations and ANA was assessed, and the associations between individual nailfold capillary aberrations and ANA were analysed separately in children and adolescents.

Efficacy of a Drug-Eluting Stent Versus Bare Metal Stents for Symptomatic Femoropopliteal Peripheral Artery Disease: Primary Results of the EMINENT Randomized Trial.

Background: A clear patency benefit of a drug-eluting stent (DES) over bare metal stents (BMSs) for treating peripheral artery disease of the femoropopliteal segment has not been definitively demonstrated. The EMINENT study (Trial Comparing Eluvia Versus Bare Metal Stent in Treatment of Superficial Femoral and/or Proximal Popliteal Artery) was designed to evaluate the patency of the Eluvia DES (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA), a polymer-coated paclitaxel-eluting stent, compared with BMSs for the treatment of femoropopliteal artery lesions.

Methods: EMINENT is a prospective, randomized, controlled, multicenter European study with blinded participants and outcome assessment.

Closure of Post-thrombotic Iliac Arteriovenous Fistulas by Iliac Vein Recanalization.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the closure of iliac arteriovenous fistulas associated with a post-thrombotic iliac vein occlusion by iliac venous stent recanalization.

Case Report: An 80-year-old woman presented with a worsening painful swelling of her left leg after an iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis 6 months ago. Duplex ultrasound and magnetic resonance venography revealed a post-thrombotic obstruction of her iliac veins as well as several arteriovenous fistulas between branches of her left external and internal iliac arteries and adjacent diseased venous segments.

A Real World 10-Year Experience With Vascular Closure Devices and Large-Bore Access in Patients Undergoing Transfemoral Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has established itself as a safe and efficient treatment option in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis, regardless of the underlying surgical risk. Widespread adoption of transfemoral procedures led to more patients than ever being eligible for TAVR. This increase in procedural volumes has also stimulated the use of vascular closure devices (VCDs) for improved access site management.

Raynaud's Phenomenon after COVID-19 Vaccination: Causative Association, Temporal Connection, or Mere Bystander?

Herein, we report a case of a new-onset Raynaud's phenomenon (RP), which occurred in an otherwise healthy 31-year-old Caucasian woman, who lacked any known risk factors and associations with possible causes for secondary RP. However, 2 weeks prior to the development of RP, the patient had received her first injection of the COVID-19 vaccine containing ChAdOx1-SARS-COV-2. The patient presented with well-demarcated, white-pale, cold areas involving the middle fingers of both hands and the ring finger of the right hand, which were triggered by exposure to cold environment and accompanied by a sensation of numbness.

Guidance for the Management of Patients with Vascular Disease or Cardiovascular Risk Factors and COVID-19: Position Paper from VAS-European Independent Foundation in Angiology/Vascular Medicine.

COVID-19 is also manifested with hypercoagulability, pulmonary intravascular coagulation, microangiopathy, and venous thromboembolism (VTE) or arterial thrombosis. Predisposing risk factors to severe COVID-19 are male sex, underlying cardiovascular disease, or cardiovascular risk factors including noncontrolled diabetes mellitus or arterial hypertension, obesity, and advanced age. The VAS-European Independent Foundation in Angiology/Vascular Medicine draws attention to patients with vascular disease (VD) and presents an integral strategy for the management of patients with VD or cardiovascular risk factors (VD-CVR) and COVID-19.

Microcirculatory assessment of vascular diseases.

The term "microcirculation" refers to the terminal vascular network of the body, which includes arterioles, capillaries, venules as well as initial lymphatic vessels. Additionally, it insinuates to their unique function in thermoregulation, fluid balance, maintenance of cellular exchange, and metabolism. Disturbances of microvascular function were identified to precede macrovascular involvement in the presence of cardiovascular risk factors and is the hallmark of terminal disease stages like critical limb or acral ischemia.

Drug coated balloons in the superficial femoral artery.

Despite the progress in endovascular treatment of patients with peripheral arterial disease, restenosis remains the major drawback, especially in patients with femoropopliteal lesions. To reduce neointimal proliferation and subsequent restenosis the use of antiproliferative drug eluting devices was implemented in the endovascular treatment of femoropopliteal disease. Aiming to use the favorable effects of these antiproliferative agents and to reduce foreign body exposure in affected arteries, drug coated balloons (DCB) have been developed.

Microvascular function in women with former gestational diabetes: A cohort study.

Objective: In the long term, diabetes mellitus is potentially associated with the occurrence of microvascular damage. This study sought to assess whether a history of prior gestational diabetes mellitus is associated with long-term effects on the women's microcirculation.

Methods: Within the scope of a long-term follow-up of the 'Viennese Post-Gestational Diabetes Project', women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus as well as women with previous pregnancy but with no history of gestational diabetes mellitus (controls) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study.

Paclitaxel-Eluting Balloon Versus Standard Balloon Angioplasty in In-Stent Restenosis of the Superficial Femoral and Proximal Popliteal Artery: 1-Year Results of the PACUBA Trial.

Objectives: The hypothesis that paclitaxel-eluting balloon angioplasty provides higher 1-year patency rates in femoropopliteal artery in-stent restenosis compared with standard percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was tested.

Background: Several trials have demonstrated that paclitaxel-eluting balloon angioplasty reduces late luminal loss in comparison with PTA.

Method: In a prospective, randomized, single-blind, dual-center study, 74 patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease due to in-stent restenosis were treated with either paclitaxel-based drug-eluting balloon (DEB) angioplasty (n = 35) or standard PTA (n = 39).

Relation of Nailfold Capillaries and Autoantibodies to Mortality in Patients With Raynaud Phenomenon.

Background: In incipient Raynaud phenomenon, nailfold capillaroscopy and autoantibody tests are obtained to screen for an emerging connective tissue disease. Whether the presence of abnormal nailfold capillaries and autoantibodies are related to mortality in patients with incipient Raynaud phenomenon is not known.

Methods And Results: In 2958 consecutive patients (78% women, median age 45 years) with incipient Raynaud phenomenon without previously known connective tissue disease, nailfold capillaroscopy and laboratory tests for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and ANA subsets were obtained at initial presentation.

Can we clinically recognize a vascular depression? The role of personality in an expanded threshold model.

The vascular depression (VD) hypothesis postulates that cerebrovascular disease may "predispose, precipitate, or perpetuate" a depressive syndrome in elderly patients. Clinical presentation of VD has been shown to differ to major depression in quantitative disability; however, as little research has been made toward qualitative phenomenological differences in the personality aspects of the symptom profile, clinical diagnosis remains a challenge.We attempted to identify differences in clinical presentation between depression patients (n = 50) with (n = 25) and without (n = 25) vascular disease using questionnaires to assess depression, affect regulation, object relations, aggressiveness, alexithymia, personality functioning, personality traits, and counter transference.

Sustained benefit at 2 years for covered stents versus bare-metal stents in long SFA lesions: the VIASTAR trial.

Purpose: The hypothesis that covered stents are superior to bare-metal stents (BMS) in long femoropopliteal artery disease was tested. The one-year results of the VIASTAR trial revealed a patency benefit of covered stents in the treatment-per-protocol (TPP) analysis only.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, single-blind, multicenter study evaluated 141 patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) after treatment with heparin-bonded covered stents (VIABAHN(®) Endoprosthesis) or BMS.

Gender, metabolic control and carotid intima-media-thickness in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Despite a marked improvement in the overall prognosis of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), cardiovascular morbidity/mortality is still increased. Since cellular and microvascular aberrations have been demonstrated already in children with T1DM, albeit a good glycemic control (CO), we hypothesized that early macrovascular changes can be detected by common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA-IMT).

Methods: We included 73 children/adolescents with T1DM (34 boys, 39 girls; mean age, 14.

Relationship of age and body mass index to skin temperature and skin perfusion in primary Raynaud's phenomenon.

Objective: To assess the relationship of age and body mass index (BMI) to skin temperature and perfusion in patients with primary Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) compared with controls.

Methods: Patients with RP as well as age- and sex-matched controls underwent external cold provocation by exposure to 20 °C water for 1 minute. Before and after cold provocation, skin temperature and skin perfusion were measured.

Transcutaneous oxygen tension monitoring in critically ill patients receiving packed red blood cells.

Purpose: Whether transfusions of packed red blood cells (PRBCs) affect tissue oxygenation in stable critically ill patients is still matter of discussion. The microvascular capacity for tissue oxygenation can be determined noninvasively by measuring transcutaneous oxygen tension (tcpO2). The aim of this study was to assess tissue oxygenation by measuring tcpO2 in stable critically ill patients receiving PRBC transfusions.

Impact of age and gender on microvascular function.

Background: Microcirculatory function can be assessed by postocclusive reactive hyperaemia (PORH) using laser Doppler fluxmetry. Previous studies have shown that PORH reveals microvascular damage at an early stage. In particular, at younger ages, PORH might depend on age and gender.