One-time screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm in Ontario, Canada: a model-based cost-utility analysis.

Background: Screening programs for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) are not available in Canada. We sought to determine the effectiveness and costutility of AAA screening in Ontario.

Methods: We compared one-time ultrasonography-based AAA screening for people aged 65 years to no screening using a fully probabilistic Markov model with a lifetime horizon.

Feasibility of patchless proximal profundoplasty and common femoral endarterectomy.

Background: Typical repair of common femoral artery (CFA) occlusive disease involves surgical endarterectomy followed by patch closure; however, prosthetic materials may become infected. In addition, in our institution, we have experienced an increased incidence of severe patch-related restenosis. We describe a technique for CFA endarterectomy and patchless proximal profundoplasty, and evaluate its feasibility.

Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms in Canada: 2020 review and position statement of the Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) remain a major risk to patients, despite level 1 evidence for screening to prevent rupture events and decrease mortality. In 2007, the Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery (CSVS) published a review and position statement for AAA screening in Canada. Since that publication, there have been a number of updates in the published literature affecting screening recommendations.

Inflammatory bowel disease and pregnancy: evidence, uncertainty and patient decision-making.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often affects women during their child-bearing years. Management of a pregnant IBD patient, or a patient contemplating pregnancy, poses unique challenges and can be quite daunting. Knowledge of the basic interplay among disease, normal host physiology and pregnancy is vital to managing these patients.

Comparative effects of mesenchymal progenitor cells, endothelial progenitor cells, or their combination on myocardial infarct regeneration and cardiac function.

Objective: Recent evidence suggests that the effects of mesenchymal progenitor cell transplantation into the infarcted myocardium might be mediated by local paracrine angiogenesis. We compared the effects of mesenchymal progenitor cell transplantation versus those of a primarily angiogenic cell, the endothelial progenitor cell, in a rat model of myocardial infarction.

Methods: Twenty-one days after left anterior descending artery ligation, rats were injected in their infarcted anterior myocardium with 1 x 10(6) mesenchymal progenitor cells, 1 x 10(6) endothelial progenitor cells, 5 x 10(5) mesenchymal progenitor cells plus 5 x 10(5) endothelial progenitor cells, or phosphate-buffered saline (n = 6-8 per group).

Long-term outcomes after valve replacement for low-gradient aortic stenosis: impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch.

Background: The long-term outcomes of patients with low-gradient aortic stenosis (LGAS) after aortic valve replacement (AVR) are poorly defined. The purpose of this study was to define the long-term outcomes of LGAS patients after AVR and to evaluate the potential impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) in these patients.

Methods And Results: A cohort of 664 patients undergoing AVR for aortic stenosis after 1990 were followed-up prospectively with annual clinical assessment and echocardiography (total follow-up 3447 patient-years; mean follow-up 5.

Natural history and predictors of outcome in patients with concomitant functional mitral regurgitation at the time of aortic valve replacement.

Background: Concomitant functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) is frequently not corrected because it may improve after AVR; however, data supporting this assumption are sparse. We ascertained the impact of clinical and echocardiographic parameters on the outcome of patients with or without concomitant FMR at the time of AVR.

Methods And Results: Clinical and echocardiographic follow-up was performed on 848 patients who underwent AVR after 1990.

Tissue-engineered injectable collagen-based matrices for improved cell delivery and vascularization of ischemic tissue using CD133+ progenitors expanded from the peripheral blood.

Background: The use of stem and/or progenitor cells to achieve potent vasculogenesis in humans has been hindered by low cell numbers, implant capacity, and survival. This study investigated the expansion of CD133+ cells and the use of an injectable collagen-based tissue engineered matrix to support cell delivery and implantation within target ischemic tissue.

Methods And Results: Adult human CD133+ progenitor cells from the peripheral blood were generated and expanded by successive removal and culture of CD133- cell fractions, and delivered within an injectable collagen-based matrix into the ischemic hindlimb of athymic rats.

Generation of CD133+ cells from CD133- peripheral blood mononuclear cells and their properties.

Objective: CD133 may be the most specific marker of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which are thought to be largely confined to the bone marrow milieu. This study reports on the phenotypic characterization and functional analysis of human CD133+ cells and their generation from cells in the peripheral circulation.

Methods: Adult human CD133+ and CD133- cells were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and the generation of CD133+ cells in culture was attempted using different culture combinations.

Effects of off-pump versus on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting on function and viability of circulating endothelial progenitor cells.

Objective: Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting may result in fewer myocardial and vascular complications than on-pump. Although differences in aortic manipulations likely play a role, the systemic responses of endothelial progenitor cells to both types of operations have not been examined. We sought to examine endothelial progenitor cell characteristics after off-pump versus on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

Nitric oxide and the angiogenic response: can we improve the results of therapeutic angiogenesis?

Therapeutic angiogenesis has yielded promising results in animal models, including the demonstration of newly created blood vessels, increased perfusion and functional benefits. On the other hand, clinical studies using similar methods of angiogenesis have so far been disappointing. The possibility that endothelial dysfunction may play a role in this bench-to-bedside discrepancy has led to further research on the role of endothelial-derived mediators in the angiogenic cascade.