Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome.

Popliteal vascular entrapment is second only to atherosclerosis as the most common surgically correctible cause of leg claudication in young adults. Affected patients are often athletic individuals who present before the age of 50. This chapter highlights the abnormal developmental anatomy that is now accepted as the cause of popliteal entrapment and serves as the basis for the modern classification system. The importance of the unique histopathological changes observed in arterial entrapment syndromes are summarized, and the natural history of chronic arterial compression is reviewed. The diagnosis, investigation, and treatment proposed are based upon the currently published literature.

Mechanisms underlying the programming of small artery dysfunction: review of the model using low protein diet in pregnancy in the rat.

Human and animal studies have shown that unbalanced maternal nutrition is associated with the development of cardiovascular and metabolic disease in adulthood. In the Southampton maternal low protein model (SMLP), protein deprivation (50%) throughout pregnancy in rats leads to elevated blood pressure in adult offspring. Impaired peripheral arterial function may contribute to the cardiovascular dysfunction observed in these offspring. This review discusses the impact of such a dietary insult on the vascular function of resistance arteries from pregnant rats (pF(o)), their offspring (F(1)), the pregnant offspring (pF(1)) and the second generation (F(2)). At each stage, disturbances in endothelium-dependent relaxation were observed, implicating changes in endothelial nitric oxide (NO)-guanylate cyclase (GC) signalling pathway in the vascular adaptations to pregnancy and the programmed effects on offspring.