European journal of vascular and endovascular surgery : the official journal of the European Society for Vascular Surgery
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Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg · Jun 2019
Multicenter StudyThe Impact of Diabetes and Time on the Atherosclerotic Plaque and Cardiovascular Outcome in Patients Undergoing Iliofemoral Endarterectomy.
The incidence of diabetes is rapidly increasing and diabetes is associated with an increased risk of peripheral artery disease. Recent studies have shown a time dependent decline in vulnerable plaque features and secondary cardiovascular events in iliofemoral endarterectomy (IFE) patients. IFE patients with diabetes have a high risk of cardiovascular events. It is not known, however, whether vulnerable plaque features and cardiovascular events reduce over time in IFE patients with diabetes. ⋯ In patients with diabetes undergoing IFE, a time dependent stabilisation of atherosclerotic plaque features was found in line with previous observations in patients with severe atherosclerosis. The presence of severely calcified lesions remained high and unchanged. The secondary event rate remained high in patients with diabetes in contrast to a significant decrease in patients without diabetes. These findings stress the need for improvement of care in IFE patients with diabetes.