Peripheral Artery Disease: Treatment of Claudication and Surgical Management.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects approximately 230 million people worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular and limb events. Even though this condition is considered a cardiovascular equivalent, it remains an under-recognized and under-treated entity. Anti-platelet and statin therapy, along with smoking cessation, are the foundations of therapy to reduce adverse events but are challenging to fully implement in this patient population.

Peripheral Artery Disease: Overview of Diagnosis and Medical Therapy.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects approximately 230 million people worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular and limb events. Even though this condition is considered a cardiovascular equivalent, it remains an underrecognized and undertreated entity. Antiplatelet and statin therapy, along with smoking cessation, are the foundations of therapy to reduce adverse events but are challenging to fully implement in this patient population.

Apixaban Discontinuation for Invasive Or major Surgical procedures (ADIOS): A prospective cohort study.

Apixaban pharmacokinetic properties and some clinical reports suggest cessation 48 hours prior to surgery is safe, but this has not been demonstrated in a naturalistic setting. We sought to measure the residual apixaban exposure in patients who had apixaban held as part of standard of care perioperative management. This was a prospective, observational study of patients in whom apixaban plasma concentration and anti-Xa activity were measured while at steady state apixaban dosing and again immediately prior to surgery.

Surgical Pulmonary Embolectomy Outcomes for Acute Pulmonary Embolism.

Background: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with significant mortality. Surgical embolectomy is a viable treatment option; however, it remains controversial as a result of variable outcomes. This review investigates patient outcomes after surgical embolectomy for acute PE.

Outcomes of extracorporeal life support for the treatment of acute massive pulmonary embolism: A systematic review.

Background: Massive pulmonary embolism (PE) can cause hemodynamic instability leading to high mortality. Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has been increasingly used as a bridge to definitive therapy. This systematic review investigates the outcomes of ECLS for the treatment of massive PE.

Pylephlebitis treated with apixaban.

Pylephlebitis is a rare condition that is characterized by an infected thrombus of the portal vein system and was traditionally associated with a high mortality rate prior to the introduction of antibiotics. This report details a 77-year-old Chinese male found to have a splenic vein thrombosis, bacteremia, and a polymicrobial splenic abscess. The patient was treated with abscess drainage and a 6 week course of intravenous antibiotics, and a direct oral anticoagulant, apixaban 2.

Cost of Purchased Versus Produced Plasma from Donor Recruitment Through Transfusion.

Background: Plasma is used to treat acquired coagulopathy or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, or to reverse warfarin effect. Scant data are available, however, about its costs.

Objective: To estimate total costs of plasma from production through administration, from the perspective of a US hospital blood donor center (BDC).

In the Clinic. Deep venous thrombosis.

This issue provides a clinical overview of deep venous thrombosis, focusing on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and patient information. The content of In the Clinic is drawn from the clinical information and education resources of the American College of Physicians (ACP), including ACP Smart Medicine and MKSAP (Medical Knowledge and Self-Assessment Program). Annals of Internal Medicine editors develop In the Clinic from these primary sources in collaboration with the ACP's Medical Education and Publishing divisions and with the assistance of science writers and physician writers.

Facilitating anticoagulation for safer transitions: preliminary outcomes from an emergency department deep vein thrombosis discharge program.

Introduction: Patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with an acute uncomplicated deep vein thrombosis (DVT) may be eligible for outpatient treatment. This study aims to establish a transition of care program in the ED for patients with DVT presenting with an acute uncomplicated DVT.

Methods: This article specifies the transition of care program for DVT patients in the ED.

Venous thromboembolism in cancer patients.

Objective: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication in cancer patients. This review summarizes some of the most current knowledge of the epidemiology, risk factors, risk models, prophylaxis, and treatment of VTE in cancer patients.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed; the search terms were venous thromboembolism, anticoagulation, and cancer.

Contemporary treatment of venous thromboembolic disease.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potentially fatal condition and includes deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The novel oral anticoagulants, which include the direct thrombin and factor Xa inhibitors, have been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of VTE. Additional interventions include thrombolysis and the use of inferior vena cava filters.

The new oral anticoagulants for the treatment of venous thromboembolism: a new paradigm shift in antithrombotic therapy.

Background: Several novel oral anticoagulants have been studied for the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in different patient populations. Clinicians will increasingly encounter scenarios in which they must choose among these and conventional anticoagulants for the treatment of this potentially fatal condition.

Objective: To review the results of Phase III clinical trials that investigated the novel oral anticoagulants for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

New oral anticoagulants: prevention of VTE in phase III studies in total joint replacement surgery and the hospitalized medically-ill patients.

Effective venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in hospitalized medically-ill patients and those undergoing orthopaedic surgery remains a challenge for clinicians in the United States. Several new oral anticoagulants, which either directly inhibit the activity of thrombin or factor Xa have been developed and studied for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention in phase III trials in these patient populations. These new medications demonstrate several advantages over traditional anticoagulants, including their administration at fixed doses with no requirement for routine coagulation monitoring.

Segmental arterial mediolysis: report of 2 cases and review of the literature.

Segmental arterial mediolysis (SAM) is an idiopathic noninflammatory vasculopathy involving small to medium arteries, usually in the abdomen, although arteries in the cerebral and coronary circulations also may be affected. Some cases present as abdominal apoplexy due to aneurysmal rupture, but ischemia and infarction also occur. Not uncommonly, SAM may be misdiagnosed as a systemic necrotizing vasculitis.

The incidence of deep vein thrombosis detected by routine surveillance ultrasound in neurosurgery patients receiving dual modality prophylaxis.

The optimal method of thromboprophylaxis and the value of screening ultrasonography for detection of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in neurosurgery patients remains unclear. The goal of this study was to determine the incidence of DVT in neurosurgical patients who, by hospital protocol, receive surveillance ultrasonography of the lower extremities twice weekly, in addition to prophylaxis with unfractionated heparin and external pneumatic compression sleeves. A retrospective review of 7,298 ultrasound studies carried out on 2,593 patients over 4 years at a university neurosurgical hospital was conducted.

New oral anticoagulants.

The new oral anticoagulants may prove to be one of the most significant innovations in clinical practice in the past 60 years. Apixaban and rivaroxaban are specific inhibitors of Factor Xa while dabigatran inhibits Factor IIa. The predictable pharmacological profile of these new agents will allow physicians to use these drugs without the need for routine coagulation monitoring which is the mainstay of warfarin therapy.