High incidence and clinical characteristics of fibromuscular dysplasia in patients with spontaneous cervical artery dissection: The ARCADIA-POL study.

The association between fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) and spontaneous cervical artery dissection (SCeAD) has been recognized, but the available evidence on this relationship is scant. Therefore, the main goal of our study was to systematically evaluate FMD frequency, clinical characteristics and vascular bed involvement in patients with SCeAD. Among 230 patients referred to the ARCADIA-POL study, 43 patients (mean age 44.1 ± 8.9 years; 15 men and 28 women) with SCeAD were referred. Also, 135 patients with FMD were compared to patients with and without SCeAD. Patients underwent: ambulatory blood pressure measurements, biochemical evaluation, echocardiographic examination, and whole body computed tomographic angiography. FMD changes were found in 39.5% of patients with SCeAD. There were no differences in clinical characteristics between patients with SCeAD and FMD and those without FMD, except for a tendency towards a higher female ratio in SCeAD patients with FMD. There were no differences in other parameters describing target organ and SCeAD characteristics. Patients with SCeAD and FMD compared to those without SCeAD were characterized by a lower frequency of hypertension and a higher frequency of hyperlipidemia and history of contraceptive hormone use. Our study indicates a high incidence (39.5%) of FMD in subjects with SCeAD. Since there are no distinctive discriminating factors between patients with SCeAD and FMD and those without FMD, FMD should be suspected in all patients with SCeAD.

Temporal changes in the pattern of invasive angiography use and its outcome in suspected coronary artery disease: implications for patient management and healthcare resources utilization.

INTRODUCTION: Invasive coronary angiography (CAG), the 'gold standard' in coronary artery disease (CAD) diagnosis, requires hospitalization, is not risk-free, and engages considerable healthcare resources. AIM: To assess recent (throught out 10 years) evolution of 'significant' (≥ 50% stenosis(es)) CAD prevalence in subjects undergoing CAG for CAD diagnosis in a high-volume tertiary referral center. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Anonymized medical records were compared for the last vs. the first 2-years of the decade (June 2007 to May 2018). Referrals for suspected CAD were 2067 of 4522 hospitalizations (45.7%) and 1755 of 5196 (33.8%) respectively (p < 0.001). RESULTS: The median patient age (64 vs. 68 years) and the prevalence of heart failure (24.1% vs. 42.2%) increased significantly (p < 0.001). The CAG atherosclerotic lesions, for all stenosis categories (< 50%; ≥ 50%; ≥ 70%; occlusion(s)), were significantly more prevalent in men. The proportion of subjects with any atherosclerosis on CAG increased (80.7% vs. 77.6%, p = 0.015). However, in the absence of any gross change in, for instance, the fraction of women (40.4% vs. 41.8%), the proportion of CAGs with significant CAD (lesion(s) ≥ 50%) decreased from 55.2% in 2007/2008 to below 1 in every 2 angiograms (48.9%) in 2017/2018 (p < 0.001). This unexpected finding occurred consistently across nearly all CAG referral categories. CONCLUSIONS: Despite more advanced age and a higher proportion of subjects with 'any' coronary atherosclerosis on CAG, the likelihood of a 'negative' angiogram (lesion(s) < 50%; no further evaluation/intervention) has increased significantly over the last decade. The exact nature of this phenomenon requires further investigation, particularly as a reverse trend would be expected with the growing role (and current high penetration) of contemporary non-invasive diagnostic tools to rule out significant CAD.

Magnetic resonance imaging and clinical outcome in patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis after carotid artery revascularization.

INTRODUCTION: About 30% of patients with carotid artery stenosis (CAS) develop dementia after a cerebral ischemic event (CIE), and 20-50% suffer from CIE recurrence during 6 months. Carotid artery revascularization (CAR) may prevent CIE recurrence, at the cost of new microembolic lesions (MES). The impact of CAR on cognitive function is debatable. AIM: To assess functional and cognitive outcome, cerebral flow on transcranial Doppler (TCD) and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with symptomatic CAS referred for CAR. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients (aged 69.0 ±7.2 y.o., 15 male) with recent CIE (21.9 ±20.9 days to CAR) related to CAS of mean 89.8 ±3.9% lumen reduction were prospectively evaluated with TCD, diffusion and perfusion MRI, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) 24 h before, at 24-48 h and 1 month following CAR. RESULTS: New MES were found in 11 (50%) subjects following CAR. CAR resulted in a significant increase of cerebral flow velocity in the middle and anterior cerebral arteries (p < 0.002 and p = 0.003; respectively) and cerebral perfusion measured by time to peak (TTP) and mean transit time (MTT) (p = 0.0009 and p = 0.0002; respectively). Neurologic tests showed improvement in NIHSS (2.4 ±1.6 to 1.5 ±1.2, p = 0.003), mRS (from 1.3 ±0.9 to 0.7 ±0.9, p = 0.005), and MMSE (26.7 ±2.2 to 27.6 ±2.3, p = 0.019) at 1 month, while similar MoCA scores were observed before and 1 month after CAR (23.4 ±3.3 vs. 24.1 ±3.7, p = 0.136). CONCLUSIONS: Improvement of cerebral flow and perfusion and functional outcome, as well as at least no cognitive decline, is observed after CAR for symptomatic CAS.