European journal of vascular surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Treatment of limb threatening ischaemia with intravenous iloprost: a randomised double-blind placebo controlled study. U.K. Severe Limb Ischaemia Study Group.
A number of patients (151) with ischaemia of the lower limb presenting as ulcers or gangrene and/or rest pain were entered into a multicentre randomised double-blind controlled study of intravenous iloprost or placebo given for 14-28 days. Patients were assessed for evidence of ulcer healing as judged by reduction in size with granulation at the base and relief of rest pain sufficient for discharge from hospital. Based on these criteria, 45% in the iloprost and 29% in the placebo group showed evidence of improvement of clinical status at the end of treatment (p less than 0.05). ⋯ Thirty-one per cent of the iloprost patients and 47% of the placebo patients underwent major amputation (p less than 0.05). It has been shown that iloprost significantly improves patients with ischaemic ulcers or gangrene compared with placebo. This improvement is maintained for up to 6 months after treatment resulting in a reduced major amputation rate.
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Sixty-six patients (72 carotid arteries) were examined after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) using Doppler colour flow imaging (DCFI). Examinations were performed 4-18 days (mean: 7 days) after surgery (32 patients, 34 arteries) or between 2 and 100 months (mean: 39 months) after CEA (34 patients, 38 arteries). Minor vessel wall abnormalities were found in 36% in the internal carotid artery (ICA) and in 55% in the common carotid artery (CCA) or bifurcation. ⋯ Altered flow patterns occurred most in CCA (90%) and were predominantly located adjacent to the vessel wall and in dilated vascular segments of the CCA. Disturbed haemodynamics in the ICA were less marked (57%) and frequently found in the central vessel lumen or diffusely distributed. We conclude that surgically induced changes of the vessel geometry and residual or recurrent vascular wall abnormalities are often associated with distinct haemodynamic disturbances, which can reliably be detected by DCFI.
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Comparative Study
Non-invasive Doppler-derived cardiac output: a validation study comparing this technique with thermodilution and Fick methods.
The high mortality and morbidity related to cardiac events remains a considerable problem in vascular surgery. Predicting high risk patients is difficult except perhaps by coronary angiography which is invasive, costly and impractical. It would be useful to have a technique which could easily measure cardiac output and stratify cardiac risk in patients needing vascular surgery. ⋯ Bland and Altman's statistical method showed the differences to be normally distributed. The mean difference (thermodilution minus Doppler) was 0.32 l/min SD 0.48 l/min, 95% confidence limits -0.64 to +1.28 l/min. Doppler-derived cardiac output compares well with traditional methods of measurement and may be a useful tool in the assessment and monitoring of the high risk vascular patient.