The use of endovascular stents in the treatment of penetrating ulcers of the thoracic aorta.

Penetrating atheromatous ulcers of the aorta are increasingly recognized as a distinct entity. Although their natural history remains ill-defined, such ulcers may lead to pseudoaneurysmal formation, dissection, rupture, or embolization. Given the morbidity associated with open repair, endovascular repair of penetrating atheromatous ulcers may be the treatment of choice.

Community and hospital outcome from ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm within the catchment area of a regional vascular surgical service.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine patterns of referral, management, and outcome of patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA) within the catchment area of this regional vascular unit (RVU).

Methods: Referral, management, and outcome data regarding 972 consecutive patients admitted to the hospital or certified deceased in the community because of RAAA between January 1, 1989, and December 31, 1995, were retrieved from prospectively gathered computerized national and local databases.

Results: Of 381 (39.

Coagulation and fibrinolysis in patients undergoing operation for ruptured and nonruptured infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Purpose: Hemorrhage and thrombosis predisposing to myocardial infarction, multiple organ failure, and thromboembolism account for the majority of the morbidity and mortality associated with repair of ruptured and nonruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). The aim of this study was to examine coagulation and fibrinolysis in patients operated on for ruptured and nonruptured infrarenal AAAs.

Methods: Ten patients operated on for ruptured and 9 patients operated on for nonruptured AAAs were studied.

The influence of age and gender on serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S), IL-6, IL-6 soluble receptor (IL-6 sR) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) levels in normal healthy blood donors.

Dysregulation of IL-6 synthesis is thought to play a role in the development of a number of age-related conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and B cell malignancies. Recently it has been suggested that the production of IL-6 is influenced by the adrenal hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphated derivative DHEA-S. In humans we investigated the relationship between DHEA-S, IL-6, IL-6 sR and TGF-beta1 in the serum of normal healthy male and female blood donors.