A prognostic risk index for long-term mortality in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Background: Prognostic information in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) may provide the basis for optimal management strategies at an early stage. This study aimed to develop a prognostic risk index for long-term mortality in patients with PAD.

Methods: In a single-center observational cohort study, 2642 patients with an ankle-brachial index of 0.

Prognostic significance of declining ankle-brachial index values in patients with suspected or known peripheral arterial disease.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a risk factor for cardiovascular events. This study assessed the prognostic significance of repeated ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurements at rest and after exercise in patients with PAD receiving conservative treatment.

Methods: In a cohort study of 606 patients (mean age 62+/-12 years, 68% male), ABI at rest and after exercise was measured at baseline and after 1 year.

The effect of intensified lipid-lowering therapy on long-term prognosis in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Background: The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) are associated with improved outcome in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Statins may also have beneficial properties beyond their lipid-lowering effect.

Methods: A prospective, observational cohort study was conducted at a university hospital from 1990 to 2005 to examine whether higher doses of statins and lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels are both independently associated with improved outcome in peripheral arterial disease.

Cardioprotective medication is associated with improved survival in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Objectives: We sought to investigate the effect of cardiac medication on long-term mortality in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Background: Peripheral arterial disease is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Treatment guidelines recommend aggressive management of risk factors and lifestyle modifications.

The long-term prognostic value of the resting and postexercise ankle-brachial index.

Background: Peripheral arterial disease is associated with a high incidence of cardiovascular mortality. Peripheral arterial disease can be detected by using the ankle-brachial index (ABI). This study assessed the prognostic value of the postexercise ABI in addition to the resting ABI on long-term mortality in patients with suspected peripheral arterial disease.

Perioperative and long-term cardiovascular outcomes in patients undergoing endovascular treatment compared with open vascular surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm or iliaco-femoro-popliteal bypass.

The aim of the present study was to determine the perioperative and long-term cardiac outcomes of patients who underwent elective open or endovascular major vascular surgery corrected for cardiac risk factors and dobutamine stress echocardiography. Consecutive patients who underwent either endovascular (n = 123) or open (n = 560) vascular surgery from 1996 to 2004 at Erasmus Medical Center were enrolled. Patients were screened for cardiac risk factors (advanced age, gender, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, heart failure, diabetes, stroke, renal failure), cardioprotective medication, and the presence of stress-induced ischemia by dobutamine stress echocardiography.

Safety of perioperative statin use in high-risk patients undergoing major vascular surgery.

No clinical data are available on the influence of perioperative statin use on postoperative myopathy in patients undergoing major noncardiac surgery except for some case reports. Therefore, the aim of this study was to clarify the potential risk of myopathy in statin users who underwent major noncardiac surgery.