Abdominal aortic mural thrombus in association with active ulcerative colitis.

Aortic mural thrombus (AMT) in the absence of aneurysm or atherosclerosis is a rare clinical finding and an uncommon cause of peripheral arterial embolization. AMT in a normal artery is usually attributed to systemic hypercoagulability. We describe a case of subacute lower limb ischemia due to AMT associated with active ulcerative colitis (UC). A 46-year-old man with active UC was referred to our hospital for the evaluation and treatment of left leg pain. Ultrasound and contrast computed tomography showed occlusion of the left popliteal artery, and an AMT in the abdominal aorta between the inferior mesenteric artery and the aortic bifurcation. We started anticoagulant therapy, intravenous infliximab, and cytapheresis. Four weeks after initiating anticoagulation therapy, we were able to successfully treat the AMT with anticoagulation therapy without surgical thrombectomy. The inflammatory status of ulcerative colitis was also under control, and AMT had not recurred at 1 year after treatment. Invasive therapies are often selected to treat AMT. However, if a patient's hypercoagulable state is controlled, AMT can safely be treated with anticoagulation therapy alone without recurrence. Learning objective: Aortic mural thrombus (AMT) in the absence of aneurysm or atherosclerosis is a rare clinical finding and an uncommon cause of peripheral arterial embolization. AMT in a normal artery is usually attributed to systemic hypercoagulability. We describe a case of subacute lower limb ischemia due to AMT associated with active ulcerative colitis. We controlled the ulcerative colitis condition and successfully treated the AMT with anticoagulation therapy alone.

Association between complete revascularization of the coronary artery and clinical outcomes in peripheral artery disease: a sub-analysis of the I-PAD Nagano registry.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is commonly caused by atherosclerosis and has an unfavorable prognosis. Complete revascularization (CR) of the coronary artery reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the impact of CR in patients with PAD has not been established to date. Therefore, we evaluated the impact of CR of CAD on the five-year clinical outcomes in patients with PAD. This study was based on a prospective, multicenter, observational registry in Japan. We enrolled 366 patients with PAD undergoing endovascular treatment. The primary endpoint was MACE, defined as a composite of all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and non-fatal stroke. After excluding ineligible patients, 96 and 68 patients received complete revascularization of the coronary artery (CR group) and incomplete revascularization of the coronary artery (ICR group), respectively. Freedom from MACE in the CR group was significantly higher than in the ICR group at 5 years (66.7% vs 46.0%, p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis revealed that CR emerged as an independent predictor of MACE (Hazard ratio: 0.56, 95% confidential interval: 0.34-0.94, p = 0.03). CR of CAD was significantly associated with improved clinical outcomes in patients with PAD undergoing endovascular treatment.

Validation and Comparison of the Prognosis Predicting Ability of Inflammation-Based Scores Following Endovascular Treatment for Peripheral Artery Disease.

We assessed the prognostic ability of several inflammation-based scores and compared their long-term outcomes in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) following endovascular treatment (EVT). We included 278 patients with PAD who underwent EVT and classified them according to their inflammation-based scores (Glasgow prognostic score [GPS], modified GPS [mGPS], platelet to lymphocyte ratio [PLR], prognostic index [PI], and prognostic nutritional index [PNI]). Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) at 5 years were examined, and C-statistics in each measure were calculated to compare their MACE predictive ability. During the follow-up period, 96 patients experienced MACE. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that higher scores of all measures were associated with a higher MACE incidence. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that GPS 2, mGPS 2, PLR 1, and PNI 1, compared with GPS 0, mGPS 0, PLR 0, and PNI 0, were associated with an increased risk of MACE. C-statistics for MACE for PNI (.683) were greater than those for GPS (.635, P = .021), mGPS (.580, P = .019), PLR (.604, P = .024), and PI (.553, P < .001). PNI is associated with MACE risk and has a better prognosis-predicting ability than other inflammation-scoring models for patients with PAD following EVT.

Percutaneous transluminal renal artery stenting using digital subtraction angiography with diluted contrast medium in a patient with severe chronic kidney disease.

Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) is associated with ischemic nephropathy, kidney failure, and secondary hypertension. Percutaneous transluminal renal artery stenting (PTRAS) is required for patients with hemodynamically significant ARAS. However, PTRAS can be problematic in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) because the use of a large amount of iodinated contrast medium is associated with an increased risk of contrast-induced nephropathy. We describe a case of PTRAS with successful revascularization by using digital subtraction angiography (DSA) with diluted contrast medium (1:10 dilution). An 89-year-old man with resistant hypertension and CKD was hospitalized in our institution for acute coronary syndrome. During hospitalization, the patient's blood pressure was extremely high (180-200/70-90 mmHg), despite the use of four antihypertensive agents. We examined the cause of hypertension and detected significant right renal artery stenosis and left kidney atrophy with renal artery obstruction. We performed PTRAS on the right renal artery by using DSA with a diluted contrast medium. Revascularization was successful using only 3 mL of the contrast medium. PTRAS using DSA with diluted contrast medium can be an effective technique for treating ARAS in patients with CKD to preserve renal function. Learning objectives: Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) is associated with ischemic nephropathy, kidney failure, and secondary hypertension. Percutaneous transluminal renal artery stenting (PTRAS) is required for patients with hemodynamically significant ARAS. However, PTRAS can be problematic in patients with chronic kidney disease because of the increased risk of contrast-induced nephropathy. We describe a technique of PTRAS using digital subtraction angiography with a diluted contrast medium to achieve a successful revascularization.

Impact of Frailty and Age on Clinical Outcomes in Patients Who Underwent Endovascular Therapy.

PURPOSE: Information on the relationship between frailty and the outcome of endovascular therapy (EVT) in elderly patients with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) is scarce. This study aimed to reveal the impact of frailty on the prognosis of super-elderly patients who underwent EVT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From August 2015 to August 2016, 335 consecutive patients who underwent EVT were enrolled in the I-PAD registry from 7 institutes in Nagano prefecture. Among them, we categorized 323 patients into 4 groups according to age and the presence or absence of frailty as follows: elderly with frailty (age ≥ 75, Clinical Frailty Scale [CFS] ≥ 5), elderly without frailty (age ≥ 75, CFS ≤ 4), young with frailty (age < 75, CFS ≥ 5), and young without frailty (age < 75, CFS ≤ 4); we analyzed them accordingly. The primary endpoints were major adverse cardiovascular and limb events (MACLE), defined as a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, admission for heart failure, major amputation, and revascularization. The secondary endpoint was cardiovascular death. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 2.7 years. In the elderly with frailty, elderly without frailty, young with frailty, and young without frailty groups, the freedom rates from MACLE were 34.9%, 55.7%, 35.4%, and 63.0%, respectively (p<0.001) and from all-cause death were 43.5%, 73.4%, 50.7%, and 90.9%, respectively (p<0.001). The freedom rates from MACLE were significantly higher among elderly patients with frailty than among young patients without frailty (55.7% vs 35.4%, p=0.01). In multivariate analysis, frailty was independently associated with MACLE incidence. CONCLUSION: Frailty as defined by CFS might be a predictor of MACLE incidence in patients with PAD who underwent EVT. By considering treatment indications for patients with PAD by focusing on frailty rather than age, we may examine whether EVT policies are appropriate and manage patient and caregiver expectations for potential improvement in functional outcomes. Further studies are expected to investigate whether changes in frailty after EVT change prognosis.

Body composition and mortality in patients undergoing endovascular treatment for peripheral artery disease.

An inverse correlation between body mass index and mortality in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) has been reported. However, little information is available regarding the impact of body composition on the clinical outcomes in patients with PAD. This study evaluated the relationships between the lean body mass index (LBMI), body fat % (BF%), and mortality and major amputation rate in patients with PAD. We evaluated 320 patients with PAD after endovascular treatment (EVT) enrolled from August 2015 to July 2016 and divided them into low and high LBMI and BF% groups based on their median values (17.47 kg/m2 and 22.07%, respectively). We assessed 3-year mortality and major amputation for the following patient groups: Low LBMI/Low BF%, Low LBMI/High BF%, High LBMI/Low BF%, and High LBMI/High BF%. During the median 3.1-year follow-up period, 70 (21.9%) patients died and 9 (2.9%) patients experienced major amputation. The survival rate was lower in the Low LBMI than in the High LBMI group, and was not significantly different between the Low and High BF% groups. Survival rates were lowest in the Low LBMI/Low BF% group (57.5%) and highest in the High LBMI/High BF% group (94.4%). There were no significant differences in major amputation rate between the Low LBMI and High LBMI groups, and between the Low BF% and High BF% groups. The Low LBMI and Low BF% groups were associated with an increased risk of mortality after adjustment for age, sex, frailty and conventional risk factors [hazard ratio (HR): 4.02; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.10-7.70; p < 0.001 and HR: 4.48; 95% CI 1.58-12.68, p = 0.005, respectively], for age, sex, hemodialysis, and prior cerebral cardiovascular disease (HR: 3.63; 95% CI 1.93-6.82; p < 0.001 and HR: 4.03; 95% CI 1.43-11.42, p = 0.009, respectively) and for age, sex, and laboratory date (HR: 3.97; 95% CI 1.88-8.37; p < 0.001 and HR: 3.31; 95% CI 1.15-9.53, p = 0.026, respectively). In conclusion, Low LBMI and Low BF% were associated with poor prognosis in patients undergoing EVT for PAD, and mortality was the lowest in the High LBMI/High BF% group compared with other body composition groups.

Association of the Prognosis of Ankle-brachial Index Improvement One Year Following Endovascular Therapy in Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease: Data from the I-PAD NAGANO Registry.

Objective Despite reports on the effects of ankle-brachial index (ABI) improvement following endovascular therapy (EVT) on the limb prognosis, studies evaluating cardiovascular events are limited. We investigated whether or not ABI improvement 1 year following EVT was associated with cardiovascular events. Methods The I-PAD NAGANO registry is an observational multicenter cohort study that enrolled 337 patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) who underwent EVT between August 2015 and July 2016. From this cohort, we identified 232 patients whose ABI data 1 year following EVT were available, after excluding patients with critical limb ischemia. We divided the patients into two groups according to the degree of ABI improvement 1 year following EVT (ΔABI) - the ΔABI <0.15 group and the ΔABI ≥0.15 group - and compared the outcomes. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), including all - cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. The secondary endpoints were major adverse limb events (MALEs), defined as a composite of target lesion revascularization and major amputation, all - cause death, MI, and stroke. The median follow-up period was 3.3 years. Results The incidence of MACEs was significantly higher in the ΔABI <0.15 group than in the ΔABI ≥0.15 group (ΔABI <0.15 vs. ΔABI ≥0.15, 25.8% vs. 11.9%, log-rank p=0.036), as was the incidence of stroke (14.1% vs. 2.2%, log-rank p=0.016). A Cox regression analysis revealed that ΔABI ≥0.15 was significantly associated with fewer MACEs (hazard ratio 0.38, 95% confidence interval 0.17-0.83, p=0.016). Conclusion An increase in ABI ≥0.15 at 1 year following EVT was a predictor of reduced MACEs.