Vascular health and risk management
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Although porcine aortic valves or pericardial tissue mounted on a stent have made implantation techniques easier, these valves sacrifice orifice area and increase stress at the attachment of the stent, which causes primary tissue failure. Optimizing hemodynamics to prevent patient-prosthetic mismatch and improve durability, stentless bioprostheses use was revived in the early 1990s. The purpose of this review is to provide a current overview of stentless valves in the aortic position. ⋯ There was no level I or IIa evidence of more effective orifice area, mean pressure gradient, LV mass regression, surgical risk, durability, and late outcomes in stentless bioprostheses. There is no general recommendation to prefer stentless bioprostheses in all patients. For new-generation pericardial stentless valves, follow-up over 15 years is necessary to compare the excellent results of stented valves such as the Carpentier-Edwards Perimount and Hancock II valves.
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Vasc Health Risk Manag · Jan 2011
Value of venous color flow duplex scan as initial screening test for geriatric inpatients with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism.
The contribution of lower extremity venous duplex scan to the diagnostic strategy for pulmonary embolism has been demonstrated by many authors. However, the positive diagnostic value of this noninvasive test in clinically suspected pulmonary embolism is not very high (10% - 18%). Since thromboembolic risks increase considerably in hospitalized patients with advanced age, this study aims to determine the importance of lower extremity venous color flow duplex scan in this particular subgroup of patients with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism. The effects of clinical presentation and risk factors on the results of duplex scan have been also studied. ⋯ Lower extremity venous color flow duplex scan appears to be a reasonable initial screening test in the diagnostic algorithm of pulmonary embolism in geriatric inpatients with clinically suspected pulmonary embolism. This is particularly true in patients with a history of venous thromboembolism, in patients with a clinical presentation suggesting venous thrombosis, in uremic patients and in patients with altered general and mental status who are not candidates for chest computed tomography.
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Multiple conditions result in development of pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is the subclassification of pulmonary hypertension, in which known or unknown underlying conditions lead to similar intrinsic alterations in the pulmonary vasculature. PAH is a progressive condition characterized by restricted blood flow through the pulmonary circulation leading to poor survival in the absence of effective therapy. ⋯ Because of the risks and inconveniences associated with administration, prostacyclins are typically reserved for patients with more advanced disease or progression despite oral therapy. Inhaled administration may be a safer and easier route for prostacyclin administration. Treprostinil is a prostacyclin analog that has been demonstrated to be effective when administered by continuous subcutaneous or intravenous infusion, and more recently by nebulization.
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Vasc Health Risk Manag · Oct 2010
ReviewTicagrelor: an investigational oral antiplatelet treatment for reduction of major adverse cardiac events in patients with acute coronary syndrome.
Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are the leading cause of mortality and one of the main reasons for hospital admissions in the developed nations. Due to high rates of mortality and reinfarction, ACS represent a major public health concern. Platelets play a central role in atherothrombosis, the main pathologic substrate in ACS. ⋯ Faster and greater platelet inhibition than clopidogrel, quick recovery of platelet function, and high efficacy regardless of clopidogrel response status, are the obvious advantages of ticagrelor as compared with thienopyridines. The prospective, randomized Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes trial has established the clinical utility, enhanced efficacy, and similar safety of ticagrelor as compared with clopidogrel in a wide range of patients with ACS managed with contemporary antithrombotic therapies and invasive strategies when indicated. Dyspnea, ventricular pauses ≥3 seconds, and elevation of serum creatinine and uric acid are the most common known adverse effects associated with ticagrelor, and require further comprehensive assessment.