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Balloon dilation of atherosclerotic arteries is an established procedure with a high success rate and low morbidity. In the past 18 months, 71 patients underwent balloon dilatation at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, with a success rate of 90%. This technique is most successful in short stenoses or occlusions, and earlier investigation of selected patients with intermittent claudication is recommended.
OBJECTIVES: The principal aim was to determine the extent to which intended and actual management varied among vascular surgeons. DESIGN: Prospective survey. METHODS: A nationwide survey of initial management of, and determination of subsequent surgical management in, 1180 patients with a diagnosis of intermittent claudication made by 28 vascular surgeons was carried out in Scotland. RESULTS: The proportion of patients considered for conservative management varied between consultants from 10-83% (mean 42%, S.D. 16%). The proportion considered for angiography varied from 13-80% (mean 46%, S.D. 14%). For surgery, the range was 4-68% (mean 37%, S.D. 14%) and for angioplasty the range was 13-90% (mean 49%, S.D. 19%). All differences in management intention between consultants were significant (p < 0.001). The differences between consultants in terms of treatment actually received within 6 months were less striking but still significant (p < 0.05). All consultants actually managed more patients conservatively than they had originally intended, but there was poor correlation between intended and actual practice. CONCLUSIONS: In Scotland the variations between surgeons in both intended and actual management are substantial. Large scale randomised controlled trials of treatment of claudication are urgently required to make clear the best treatment strategies.
In a group of 58 patients with peripheral arteriopathies, we have studied efficacy and safety of buflomedil hydrochloride and naftidrofuryl. Both drugs have been shown to have vasoactive properties evaluated through walking capacity and time of hyperemia. According to our results, buflomedil is more effective and safe than naftidrofuryl in the treatment of patients with intermittent claudication.
The aim of this study was to examine whether there was a relationship between ultrasound-assessed morphology of the femoral artery wall and hemostatic factors, and whether these factors were associated with intermittent claudication. One hundred and thirty men at high cardiovascular risk and 51 men at low risk were examined. The subjects (high- and low-risk) with moderate/large plaque (n = 96) had higher fibrinogen, thrombin/antithrombin complex and von Willebrand factor, compared to subjects with small/no plaque. The maximum intima-media thickness of the femoral artery was significantly associated with fibrinogen. These associations were independent of current smoking habits. Clinical atherosclerosis was associated with fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, thrombin/antithrombin complex, plasminogen activator inhibitor activity, mean and maximum intima-media thickness and plaque status of the femoral artery. In conclusion, fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor and thrombin/antithrombin complex were related to plaque occurrence in the femoral artery. Clinical atherosclerosis was associated with fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, thrombin/antithrombin complex and plasminogen activator inhibitor activity.
The case of a patient with vertebral hemangioma and unusual clinical presentation is reported, with an attempt to explain these unusual clinical complaints. Vertebral hemangioma is a common and often asymptomatic tumor. Neurologic symptoms may appear due to pressure on the neural tissue caused by extraosseous extension. The patient reported here presented with intermittent claudication. Conventional radiography CT, and MRI revealed vertebral hemangioma at T5 and extraosseous extension compressing the spinal cord. Gravity-related vascular dilatation may induce further compression of the spinal cord and, thus, is thought to be the underlying event in the induction of the intermittent clinical symptoms. The lesion was treated with subtotal corpectomy after embolization and fusion with a strut iliac crest graft. At the 9-month follow-up, the patient was without complaints. We conclude that a diagnosis of vertebral hemangioma should be considered in cases of intermittent neurologic symptoms of the lower extremities.
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OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of contrast-enhanced (gadolinium) magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRA) and colour duplex ultrasound (CDU) of lower limb arteries. DESIGN: Prospective, single centre study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A consecutive series of 58 patients with intermittent claudication (IC) were examined with CE-MRA and CDU from the infrarenal aorta to the tibio-peroneal trunk with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as reference. The arterial tree was divided into 15 segments, pooled into three regions; suprainguinal, thigh and knee. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for significant obstructions were calculated. Cohen Kappa statistics was used to establish agreement between the three methods. RESULTS: The sensitivity (specificity in parentheses) for significant obstructions in the suprainguinal region were 96% (94%) for CE-MRA and 91% (96%) for CDU, in the thigh region 92% (95%) for CE-MRA and 76% (99%) for CDU, and in the knee region 93% (96%) for CE-MRA and 33% (98%) for CDU. CDU failed to visualize 10% of suprainguinal, 2% of thigh and 13% of knee-region arterial segments. CONCLUSIONS: Both CE-MRA and CDU are good alternatives to DSA in the suprainguinal- and thigh-region. In the knee region only CE-MRA can be relied upon as an alternative to DSA. Imaging by CDU is not suited to situations were evaluation of runoff vessels is important.
A multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel study was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of cilostazol 100 mg and 50 mg, both administered twice daily, with that of placebo in patients with moderately severe intermittent claudication (IC) secondary to peripheral arterial disease.A total of 394 subjects 40 years of age or older with chronic, stable, symptomatic IC received cilostazol 100 mg twice daily, 50 mg twice daily, or placebo for 24 weeks. Subjects receiving cilostazol 100 mg twice daily experienced a 21% net improvement in maximal walking distance (MWD)compared with placebo subjects (p = 0.0003) and a 22% net improvement in distance walked to the onset of symptoms (PFWD) (p = 0.0015). Subjects who received cilostazol 50 mg twice daily also benefited from therapy, but not to a statistically significant degree (7% and 11% improvement in MWD and PFWD, respectively). Quality-of-life and functional status assessments corroborated these objective results. Cilostazol, in particular 100 mg twice daily, significantly improves symptoms in patients with IC.
In a placebo-controlled double-blind crossover trial, the effect of a 3-week course of treatment with metoprolol (100-200 mg daily) and methyldopa (500-1000 mg daily) on walking capacity on a treadmill with increasing work load was studied in 14 hypertensive patients with intermittent claudication. The walking capacity was not affected by the antihypertensive treatment.
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BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) at II stage results in a moderate to severe impairment in walking ability. Aim of this study, controlled and randomized, was to evaluate the efficacy of an intensive 4 weeks exercise training in PAOD followed by a six-month period and to analyse the risk factors for atherosclerosis and the site of the lesion for possible predictors of result outcome. METHODS: Patients with PAOD were included in the study (ankle/arm ratio < or = 0.7 and < or = 0.5 after exercise) with initial claudication distance (ICD) < or = 200 m and absolute claudication distance (ACD) < or = 500 m evaluated on a constant-load treadmill test (3 km/hr, 0% slope). Forty patients were randomized (all with antiplatelet therapy): 20 to a supervised walking exercise (mean ICD 121.8 m, ACD 289.7 m) and 20 to a non exercising control group (ICD 111.6 m, ACD 230.1 m). Both groups were tested at 4 weeks (T1) and 6 months (T2). Training group was enrolled in a 4-week supervised training program. RESULTS: In the training group 10% of patients became asymptomatic (>1000 m). At T1 ICD increased 141% (p<0.001) and ACD was with low-pain-claudication >1000 m in 50%, at T2 ICD was 200% (p<0.05) with 70% of asymptomatic for ICD and ACD. Control group has a no significant increase of ICD and ACD at T1 and T2. Only arterial hypertension and intermittent claudication severity emerged as negative predictive factors for the results of training. CONCLUSIONS: Vascular training produces a significant and lasting improvement in walking distance in PAOD.
OBJECTIVE: to compare the effectiveness of invasive therapy, supervised physical training and no treatment in terms of health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with intermittent claudication (IC). DESIGN: a prospective, randomised, controlled study. MATERIALS: a total of 253 unselected patients with stable IC were sequentially randomised into 3 balanced treatment groups. At 1 year follow-up data from a battery of generic and disease specific HRQL questionnaires, and global indices of quality of life and physical condition were available in 171 patients. RESULTS: compared with a non-diseased reference group, claudicants were substantially limited in daily physical functioning, but little affected regarding emotional, cognitive and social functioning, or well-being. Invasive therapy yielded significantly greater improvements in some aspects of physical functioning and walk-related symptoms than training. Training was not superior to invasive therapy on any HRQL dimension and superior to no treatment on only one dimension. Treatment effects, however, were generally small-to-moderate and levels of physical dysfunction in all groups remained higher than reference values. CONCLUSIONS: invasive therapy is more effective than supervised training in alleviating illness-specific symptoms and improving certain aspects of physical functioning - the primary HRQL domains impacted on by IC and the principal goals of its treatment. However, since treatment effect sizes were at most moderate and given that untreated claudicants reported at most small deterioration in HRQL, the level of evidence supporting invasive therapy is modest.
The occurrence of amyloid deposits in skeletal muscle and its vessels has been noted from a long date in amyloidosis. However, their clinical manifestations have been seldom noticed. The authors report the case of a patient with light-chain myeloma in which an arterial intermittent claudication led to the discovery of muscle vascular amyloid deposits. Muscle signs and symptoms due to amyloidosis and their mechanisms are reviewed.
PURPOSE: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is an increasingly popular invasive treatment for peripheral arterial disease, but there have been very few controlled trials to justify its use. This randomized controlled clinical trial was performed to determine in patients with mild and moderate intermittent claudication differences in outcome between PTA and conventional medical treatment after 2 years. METHODS: Six hundred patients with claudication were screened at the Peripheral Vascular Clinic, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Sixty-two patients with short femoral artery stenoses or occlusions (47 patients) and iliac stenoses (15 patients) were randomized to either PTA plus medical treatment (PTA group, 30 patients) or to medical treatment alone (control group, 32 patients). Medical treatment consisted of daily low-dose aspirin and advice on smoking and exercise. Outcome measures studied were patient-reported maximum walking distance, exercise treadmill distance until onset of claudication, treadmill maximum walking distance, ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI), quality of life (Nottingham Health Profile), and duplex ultrasound-measured extent of occlusive disease. RESULTS: At 2 years of follow-up, the PTA group and control subjects did not differ significantly in patient-reported maximum walking, treadmill onset to claudication, treadmill maximum walking distances, or ABPI (p > 0.05). However, the PTA group had significantly fewer occluded arteries (p = 0.003) and a lesser degree of stenosis (expressed in terms of the velocity ratio; p = 0.004) in patent arteries. Quality of life was not demonstrably different between the two groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Two years after PTA, patients had less extensive disease than medically treated patients, but this did not translate into a significant advantage in terms of improved walking or quality of life. There are important implications for patient management and future clinical research.
BACKGROUND: Despite the absence of controlled data supporting endovascular treatment of iliac disease in patients with intermittent claudication (IC), there has been a significant increase in iliac percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), and in particular iliac stenting, in recent years. The clinical and haemodynamic outcome of iliac PTA, with and without stenting, was assessed in patients with IC. METHODS: A prospectively gathered computerized database of iliac PTA (n = 203) and stenting (n = 88), performed between 1 January 1991 and 31 December 1997, was analysed. RESULTS: Occlusive disease was significantly more likely than stenotic disease to be treated by primary stent deployment (19 of 88, 22 per cent) than PTA alone (11 of 203, 5 per cent) (P < 0.01, chi2 test), as were lesions in the common iliac artery (common 69 of 214 (32 per cent) versus external 14 of 65 (22 per cent); P < 0.05, chi2 test). Primary stent placement was associated with a significant increase in morbidity that delayed hospital stay (13 of 88 (15 per cent) versus seven of 203 (3 per cent); P < 0.05, chi2 test). Emergency revascularization was required in four patients who underwent PTA (2 per cent) and two who had stenting (2 per cent) (P not significant). CONCLUSION: Iliac stenting is associated with a significant increase in morbidity but with no improvement in symptomatic or haemodynamic outcome. These results do not justify the increased expense associated with the routine use of iliac stents.
OBJECTIVE: Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a vasoconstrictor mitogenic peptide whose plasma concentrations are increased in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in plasma ET-1 concentrations occur after a 4-week treatment with prostaglandin (PG) E1 in patients with intermittent claudication. PATIENTS, MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-four non-trained outpatients with Fontaine stage II PAOD (20 men and 4 women, mean age 63+/-7 years, age range 48-72 years) were randomized to receive over a 4-week period either PGE1 (60 microg given daily i.v. over 2 hours in 250 ml saline, n = 12) or placebo (250 ml saline, n = 12). Plasma levels of ET-1 were measured by radioimmunoassay at baseline and after treatment period. Before and after treatment pain-free walking distance (PFWD) and maximum walking distance (MWD) were evaluated by treadmill walking test as the target parameters for assessing treatment efficacy. RESULTS: At week 4, PFWD and MWD significantly increased in comparison to baseline only in PGE1 treatment group (from 136+/-38 m to 246+/-95 m, p = 0.0004, and from 238+/-54 m to 411+/-137 m, p = 0.0001, respectively). At the end of the treatment period with PGE1, ET-1 plasma concentration decreased from 4.50+/-0.8 pmol/l to 3.6+/-1.1 pmol/l (p = 0.002), whereas it remained unchanged in placebo group. A significant correlation between the decrease in ET-1 plasma levels and the increase in the PFWD and MWD (r = -0.92, p < 0.0001; r = -0.78, p = 0.002, respectively) was detected in PGE1 treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced ET-1 plasma concentrations after PGE1 treatment could be an index of improved endothelial function and/or could contribute to a reduction in vascular resistance and vessel wall growth in PAOD patients. Moreover, plasma ET-1 could be a marker of clinical improvement in these patients.
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