Survival in patients with poorly compressible leg arteries.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to compare survival of patients with poorly compressible arteries (PCA) to those with a normal ankle-brachial index (ABI) and those with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). BACKGROUND: Limited data are available regarding survival in patients with PCA identified in the clinical setting by noninvasive lower extremity arterial evaluation. METHODS: We conducted a historical cohort study of consecutive patients who underwent outpatient, noninvasive lower extremity arterial evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, from January 1998 through December 2007, and who were followed for a mean duration of 5.8 ± 3.1 years. An ABI 1.00 to 1.30 was considered normal, PAD was defined as a resting or post-exercise ABI ≤0.90, and PCA defined as an ABI ≥1.4 and/or an ankle systolic blood pressure >255 mm Hg. Patients were followed for all-cause mortality through September 30, 2009. RESULTS: Of 16,493 individuals (mean age 67.8 ± 13.0 years, 59% male); 29% had normal ABI, 54% had PAD, and 17% had PCA. During follow-up (mean duration 5.8 ± 3.1 years), 4,365 patients (26%) died. The percent alive at the end of the study period was 88%, 70%, and 60% for normal ABI, PAD, and PCA, respectively. After adjustment for age, sex, cardiovascular risk factors, comorbid conditions, and medication use, the hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of death associated with PCA were 2.0 (1.8 to 2.2) and 1.3 (1.2 to 1.4) compared with the normal ABI and PAD groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Patients identified by noninvasive vascular testing to have poorly compressible leg arteries have poor survival, worse than those with a normal ABI or those with PAD.

Sex/gender medicine. The biological basis for personalized care in cardiovascular medicine.

Sex differences in morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease have been recognized by the medical community for decades. Investigation into the underlying biological basis of these differences was largely neglected by the scientific community until a report released by the Institute of Medicine in the United States in 2001 "Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health: Does Sex Matter?" Recommendations from this report included the need for more accurate use of the terms "sex" and "gender", better tools and resources to study the biological basis of sex differences, integration of findings from different levels of biological organization and continued synergy between basic and clinical researchers. Ten years after the Institute's report, this review evaluates some of the sex differences in cardiovascular disease, reviews new approaches to study sex differences and emphasizes areas where further research is required. In the era of personalized medicine, the study of the biological basis of sex differences promises to optimize preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular disease in men and women, but will require diligence by the scientific and medical communities to remember that sex does matter.

White blood cell count predicts all-cause mortality in patients with suspected peripheral arterial disease.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether markers of inflammation-white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2-are associated with mortality in patients referred for noninvasive lower-extremity arterial evaluation. METHODS: Participants (n = 242, mean age 68 years, 54% men) were followed for a median of 71 months. Ankle-brachial index (ABI), WBC count, plasma CRP, and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 were measured at the start of the study. Factors associated with all-cause mortality were identified using Cox proportional hazards. RESULTS: During the follow-up period, 56 patients (25%) died. Factors associated with higher mortality were greater age, history of coronary artery disease/cerebrovascular disease, lower ABI, higher serum creatinine, and higher WBC count/plasma CRP. In stepwise multivariable regression analysis, ABI, serum creatinine, WBC count, and CRP were associated significantly with mortality. Patients in the top tertile of WBC count and CRP level had a relative risk of mortality of 3.37 (confidence interval [CI], 1.56-7.27) and 2.12 (CI, 0.97-4.62), respectively. However, only the WBC count contributed incrementally to prediction of mortality. Inferences were similar when analyses were limited to patients with peripheral arterial disease (ABI<0.9, n = 114). CONCLUSION: WBC count, but not plasma CRP level, provides incremental information about the risk of death in patients referred for lower-extremity arterial evaluation and in the subset of these patients with peripheral arterial disease.

An unusual presentation of enterocolic lymphocytic phlebitis.

Enterocolic lymphocytic phlebitis (ELP) is a recently described disease characterized by phlebitis in the wall and mesentery of the colon and small bowel. Unlike other systemic or localized vasculitic diseases that can have similar gastrointestinal manifestations, there is no involvement of the arterial system or evidence of systemic vasculitis. The lymphocytic phlebitis affects not only the grossly involved intestinal segment but also the apparently healthy bowel. The diagnosis of ELP is histologic, and other systemic vasculitis must be ruled out. Surgical resection of the bowel not only provides the diagnostic tissue but also leads to resolution of the symptoms. In the literature, ELP has most commonly been reported to present as an acute abdomen. We describe a case of ELP presenting as a large abdominal mass, without evidence of an acute abdomen. This mass was actually diffusely thickened colonic serosa, caused by extensive organizing fat necrosis and marked edema of the serosa and bowel wall.