Vascular Medicine – Pubmed

CONCLUSION: This study defines a genetically anchored plasma protein panel that mechanistically links CKD to CAD via a lipid-inflammation axis. The findings support the development of precision blood-based tools for early risk stratification and highlight potential targets for therapeutic intervention in cardiorenal disease.

CONCLUSION: EA remains a biologically plausible but clinically unconfirmed adjunctive approach for EH. Its clinical efficacy, optimal parameters, and target populations require confirmation in completed, adequately powered, sham-controlled multicenter randomized trials.

This study investigates the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Participants were divided into 3 groups based on their 25(OH)D status: normal (group A), insufficient (group B), and deficient (group C). The study analyzed the relationship between 25(OH)D and DR, as well as its association with various clinical parameters. In T2DM patients, 25(OH)D levels were significantly correlated with serum...

CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide insight into the prevalence of MetS, ED, and accelerated aging, as well as potentially modifiable risk factors, including those that have not been previously examined, among survivors of HSCT for hematological malignancies in childhood. The findings will inform surveillance guidelines and support the development of health behavioral and anti-inflammatory interventions to mitigate the risk of these severe late effects.

CONCLUSION: Research on CES has progressed rapidly, and research development and collaboration frequently occur across countries, regions, and institutions. Further strengthening these partnerships may advance the field. The recent focus on ESUS, Mendelian randomization, and atrial cardiopathy highlights the need for refined etiological phenotyping and individualized secondary prevention.

This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the associations between total intake of 3 B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin) and hypertension and increased pulse pressure in U.S. adults, and to explore potential nonlinear relationships.Data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2023 were analyzed. A total of 17,484 participants aged ≥ 20 years were included. Total vitamin intake (diet plus supplements) was categorized into quartiles. Hypertension was...

Ischemic stroke is a major cause of mortality globally, but single-target therapies often fail due to the complex "ischemic cascade". This study investigated the neuroprotective effects and multitarget mechanisms of Curcumae Rhizoma (CR) using an integrated network pharmacology approach and in vivo validation. The active compounds of CR were screened through ADME filtering, and their potential targets were identified using the TCMSP, TTD, and UniProt databases. Molecular docking was used to...

Stroke occupies an important position in the global disease burden, but the combined effect of heavy metal exposure and the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) on stroke remains unclear. Based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, this study explores the association between blood lead, blood cadmium, blood mercury, CRP, and the risk of stroke. A total of 8297 American adults aged 20 years and older were included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey....

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are a chronic and often debilitating condition, affecting a significant number of individuals worldwide. One of the most distressing aspects of VLUs is the persistent pain they can cause, which impacts quality of life, mobility and overall wellbeing. Despite advances in wound care, VLU-related pain remains under-recognised and poorly managed. Pain in VLUs is complex and typically includes nociceptive pain from tissue damage, neuropathic pain due to nerve involvement, and...

Home-based rehabilitation after stroke is increasingly important, as pressure on hospital services rise and recovery occurs mostly at home. Enriching the home (Environmental Enrichment, EE) represents a potential strategy to support rehabilitation by providing continuous task- and context-specific stimulation that promotes functional recovery through frequent and exploratory use of the affected arm. Exploratory behaviour - self-initiated, varied and adaptive movements - is an important driver of...

Cardiovascular disease is frequently diagnosed in birds that are presented to veterinary hospitals, and atherosclerosis is a common cardiovascular condition identified in postmortem evaluations of pet psittacine birds. Atherosclerotic lesions are accumulations of lipids, smooth muscle cells, macrophages, and foam cells in the intimal layer of a blood vessel, narrowing the lumen. A reduced lumen diameter in a blood vessel typically results in physiological complications, such as ischemia,...

CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed that the rate of amputations was relatively high and highest survival rate was patients with cardiovascular disease. Receiving insulin therapy, staying in rural area, no-neuropathy, underweight and normal weight and no-hypertension showed more likely to amputation. Early detection of comorbidities is recommended to prevent amputation among patients with DFU.

CONCLUSIONS: While behaviour change strategies can enhance engagement in cardiac rehabilitation, their impact on measurable health outcomes remains unclear. Social support, professional oversight, and structured programming appear effective in maintaining physical activity levels, but future interventions should prioritise exercise confidence and education to promote sustained behaviour change.

BACKGROUND: Endovascular procedures using a mobile C-arm are commonly performed in patients with peripheral artery disease. During these procedures, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) requires intra-arterial administration of contrast agent and exposes both patients and staff to radiation from the C-arm. The Vascular Navigation PAD system (Brainlab, Germany) may reduce the number of DSAs performed and thereby decrease both contrast agent use and radiation exposure. The objective of this study...

CONCLUSION: SREBP gene polymorphisms exhibited suggestive associations with ambulatory blood pressure in Chinese adolescents. Although the associations were not significant after multiple testing correction, these findings suggest potential genetic influences on blood pressure regulation in youth and may inform future research on genetically informed approaches to hypertension prevention.

This study extracted radiomics features of blood clots from computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) images of acute pulmonary embolism (APE) patients, and constructs a predictive model for APE patient risk stratification by comparing multiple machine learning (ML) algorithms. This retrospective study analyzed patients with APE, documenting their clinical characteristics (clinical and hematological indicators), conventional CTPA imaging parameters. Patients are stratified into low-risk...

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been documented to exert therapeutic benefits in vascular dementia (VD). This study seeks to elucidate the therapeutic efficacy and underlying molecular mechanisms of EA in VD. A VD model was induced in rats, which received EA with or without an Shh pathway inhibitor. An in vitro VD model was generated by exposing BV2 microglial cells to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD). A battery of tests was employed: cognitive function (novel object recognition and morris water...

Short-video platforms are important sources of cerebral infarction-related health information, but the completeness, reliability, and platform differences of such content remain unclear. This study compared engagement, topic coverage, and information quality of cerebral infarction-related videos on TikTok and Bilibili. Using the keyword "cerebral infarction," we screened the top 150 search results from each platform. Of 300 retrieved videos, 289 were included (TikTok: n = 146; Bilibili: n =...

A man in his early 60 s developed persistent hyponatremia following lumbar spine surgery complicated by traumatic brain injury with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Initial evaluation demonstrated hypotonic hyponatremia with inappropriately concentrated urine, consistent with the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretio. Standard therapy including hypertonic saline and oral sodium supplementation resulted in only transient improvement. Given a history of secondary adrenal insufficiency...

Limited evidence links chronic inflammation to stroke prevalence, and the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) serves as a valid tool to quantify the inflammatory potential of diets. This cross-sectional study utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007 to 2016, enrolling 27,250 adult participants. DII was calculated based on 24 dietary components and categorized into tertiles (Q1: anti-inflammatory diet, Q2: intermediate diet, Q3: pro-inflammatory diet). Stroke...

Background Ischemic lesion net water uptake (NWU), a CT biomarker of cerebral edema, has been linked to poor outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to large vessel occlusion (LVO). Whether NWU outperforms other imaging markers in predicting futile recanalization (FR) (ie, poor functional outcome despite successful endovascular thrombectomy [EVT]) remains uncertain. Purpose To evaluate the association between NWU and FR and compare the predictive performance of NWU with Alberta...

CONCLUSION: Current evidence shows that HPI-directed hemodynamic management effectively reduces IOH and decreases intraoperative fluid administration and phenylephrine utilization. However, these physiological improvements did not translate into clinical benefits for postoperative AKI.

CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence underscores substantial gaps in understanding the natural history and optimal management of diabetic foot disease in dialysis-dependent ESKD. Future research should prioritise well-designed prospective studies to delineate dialysis-specific risk pathways, incorporate robust stratification by dialysis modality, and evaluate interventions targeting ischaemia and limb preservation. Standardisation of outcome reporting, particularly for healing durability and...

CONCLUSION: Elderly patients with non-valvular AF with SA ≤ 3.6 g/dL show a higher risk of MACE and non-cardiovascular mortality.

Pyroptosis, as an inflammatory type of regulated cell death, is associated with the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases. Targeted therapy for pyroptosis has shown promise in multiple preclinical models of neurological injury and disorders. Stroke is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and the top cause of disease-related death in China. Although the pyroptosis signaling pathway has been studied in cerebral ischemic diseases, its pathophysiological mechanisms...

CONCLUSION: Long-term SBP trajectories and variability demonstrated sex-specific effects on AF risk. An elevated SBP trajectory and high variability conferred an increased risk of AF in men, but not in women. This novel finding may provide new insights into sex-specific differences in the pathogenesis of AF.

Glutamate transporters are essential for maintaining CNS homeostasis by clearing extracellular glutamate following synaptic transmission. Dysregulation of these transporters contributes to glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity across numerous neurological disorders, including ischemic stroke, underscoring their potential as therapeutic targets. However, the regulatory response of these transporters following ischemic insult remains poorly defined. In this study, using a model of oxygen-glucose...

Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common age-related condition worldwide in aging populations. Neuroinflammation is a key contributor to the pathological process of VaD. Shrimp oil is a by-product of shrimp processing that is rich in astaxanthin and lipids. This study aimed to investigate the effect of shrimp oil on neuroinflammation and its underlying mechanisms in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) rats. Male Wistar rats subjected to bilateral common carotid artery occlusion...

CONCLUSION: The changes and improvements were relatively easy to implement and were highly impactful across measured outcomes. Empowering nurses to lead quality initiatives and using a structured change management framework benefits patients and fosters a more fulfilled, effective nursing team.

CONCLUSIONS: ICAS was independently associated with an increased risk of 1-year cognitive impairment after AIS/TIA, particularly in memory performance.

In patients with chronic total occlusion on coronary angiography, myocardial viability assessment is an essential tool in guiding treatment decisions, especially revascularization. Current non-invasive tests are often limited by the presence of myocardial fibrosis. This narrative review incorporates evidence from 76 studies and aims to provide an updated overview of non-invasive methods for myocardial viability assessment, with emphasis on the role of myocardial fibrosis. Every imaging modality...

CONCLUSION: Brief cognitive screening tools, used in isolation, may not be suitable for assessment in acute stroke settings.

Contained rupture of a mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is rare and potentially fatal. While most cases involve Salmonella or Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli is an uncommon cause.A man in his early 60s presented with acute E. coli prostatitis and a prostatic abscess. Abdominal ultrasound incidentally revealed a 3.8 cm infrarenal saccular AAA suspicious for contained rupture. Contrast-enhanced CT confirmed focal aortic wall disruption without active extravasation. Intravenous...

CONCLUSIONS: Nonculprit plaque rupture was associated with cardiac events at univariable but not multivariable analysis. Identification of nonculprit PR did not improve the predictive value of established high-risk morphological features such as TCFA; however, future ad hoc studies are needed to further clarify its potential independent clinical relevance.

CONCLUSIONS: CPETarm is a feasible, safe and acceptable method for preoperative assessment in patients with CLTI who are unsuitable for conventional lower-limb CPET. Further research is required to establish modality-specific thresholds, evaluate prognostic value for postoperative outcomes and evaluate integration into perioperative care pathways.

Age-related somatic mosaicism in the hematopoietic system is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The most prominent example is clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), defined as the expansion of hematopoietic clones carrying acquired mutations in genes recurrently mutated in myeloid hematological malignancies, typically at a variant allele fraction ≥2%. Across large human cohorts, CHIP is associated with increased risk of coronary...

It took >20 years to discover the family of proteases implicated in the activation and/or regulation of the activity of secretory proteins, including polypeptide hormones, growth factors and receptors. From 1990 to 2003 the 9 members of the proprotein convertase (PC) family were identified and shown to be phylogenetically ancient serine proteases related to bacterial subtilases and to yeast Kexin, now called Proprotein Convertases related to Subtilsin and Kexin (PCSK1-PCSK9). Because many growth...

Isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH) is frequently considered a lower-risk phenotype due to preserved systolic pressure; however, sustained ambulatory diastolic load may promote early myocardial remodeling. Dynamic circadian variation, particularly diastolic morning surge (DMS), may impose additional hemodynamic stress not reflected by mean blood pressure values. We evaluated whether incorporation of DMS improves risk stratification for subclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD)...

The concept of "vulnerable plaque" (VP) has been evolving since its introduction as an atherosclerotic plaque prone to cause cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Once defined as a thin-cap fibroatheroma prone to rupture, it now encompasses more atherosclerotic lesion types, including plaque erosion, fissure, and calcified nodules. Along with deeper understanding of plaque biology, many call for identifying the "vulnerable patient" and not just VP, to identify patients...

Compression therapy is the evidence-based treatment for healing venous leg ulcers. However, it is not routinely applied in many UK hospitals. This paper explores hospital staff's' perspectives of venous leg ulcer care provision where compression therapy is not routinely applied. A semi-structured interview study was conducted with 11 participants, drawn from a larger study, who confirmed that their respective hospitals did not apply compression therapy to inpatients with venous leg ulcers. The...

CONCLUSIONS: SMuRFs remain strong determinants of earlier ACS onset and shorter ACS-free survival. The apparent paradox of higher mortality in SMuRF-less patients likely reflects index-event and dilution bias. Prevention strategies targeting smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes remain crucial to extend ACS-free life expectancy.

Liver cirrhosis causes physiological and pharmacokinetic alterations that complicate antihypertensive therapy, in the presence of portal and arterial hypertension. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of PBPK-guided dosing of carvedilol and nebivolol in cirrhotic patients. First, PBPK models were validated using clinical pharmacokinetic data from healthy volunteers and optimized for cirrhosis, then applied to simulate untested cirrhotic populations and estimate unbound plasma exposure...

To evaluate markers of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and white matter integrity in patients with subcortical ischemic vascular dementia (SIVD) using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to analyze the impact of total SVD load on cerebral perfusion and white matter injury. Fifty SIVD patients who visited the Cognitive Disorders Clinic of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital between October 2017 and October 2022 were enrolled and underwent 3.0 T...

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is consistently associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism, particularly during active disease and hospitalization, yet thrombosis in this context extends beyond a transient inflammatory complication. Emerging evidence supports a unifying thromboinflammatory framework in which chronic intestinal inflammation promotes systemic vascular activation. Endothelial dysfunction represents a central interface in this process and is characterized by...

Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU), a prevalent and refractory diabetic complication, lacks clear pathological targets and effective therapeutic strategies. This study aimed to identify potential DFU biomarkers and preliminarily explore the mechanism of Badushengji San (BDS) in treating DFU. Transcriptome datasets (GSE199939, GSE134431) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data (GSE165816) were retrieved to screen differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and DFU-related cell subsets. Intersection...

CONCLUSIONS: In this large, real-world cohort of stroke patients, NCCT-based IGR was associated with functional outcomes, whereas CTP-based IGR was not. This highlights the need to refine and identify more accurate markers of infarct growth within perfusion imaging.

A woman aged in her 50s presented with sudden onset of vertigo, headaches and epistaxis, initially attributed to her background of chronic systemic hypertension. Ophthalmological history was significant for bilateral proliferative diabetic retinopathy and retinal detachment managed with vitrectomy, endolaser and intraocular silicone oil 5 years prior to the current presentation. Review of the initial non-contrast CT by our neuroradiology department identified right subretinal silicone oil,...

Atherothrombosis is a complex vascular disorder in which a thrombus forms on a vascular lesion, typically following the disruption and/or erosion of an atherosclerotic plaque. Atherothrombosis is the main pathological mechanism underlying atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVDs) [i.e., myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic stroke, and peripheral artery disease (PAD)]. In recent years, substantial advances have reshaped our understanding of ASCVD, spanning its pathophysiology, risk...

Acute symptomatic seizures as the main manifestation of contrast-induced encephalopathy are relatively uncommon. A 50-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with an unruptured right middle cerebral artery bifurcation aneurysm and underwent elective endovascular stent-assisted coiling. The interventional procedure was uneventful; however, she developed generalized tonic-clonic seizures consistent with status epilepticus on the first postoperative day. A computed tomography scan obtained on...

The association of atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) control level with hypertension onset in children was still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between AIP control levels and risk of childhood hypertension. We obtained data from 12,800 students participating in a national, multi-center, school-based health lifestyle intervention program aimed at combating obesity. AIP was calculated using the formula log(10)(TG/HDL-C), and was categorized into five clusters based on...