The independent and interactive associations of physical activity intensity and vitamin D status with bone mineral density in prepubertal children: the PANIC Study.

It is unclear how physical activity intensity and vitamin D status are related to bone health in prepubertal children. We found positive associations between vitamin D status and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with bone in boys and girls. This highlights the importance of lifestyle factors for skeletal health prepuberty. INTRODUCTION: The sex-specific independent and interactive associations of physical activity (PA) intensity and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels with areal bone mineral density (aBMD) were investigated in prepubertal children. METHODS: The participants were 366 prepubertal Finnish children (190 boys, 176 girls) aged 6-8 years. Linear regression analysed the associations of sedentary time (ST), light PA (LPA), moderate PA (MPA), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA (VPA) measured by accelerometery, and serum 25(OH)D with total body less head (TBLH) and lower-limb aBMD, measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS: There was no interaction between PA intensity or serum 25(OH)D and sex with aBMD. MPA and MVPA were positively associated with TBLH and lower-limb aBMD (ß = 0.11, 95% CI 0.02-0.20, p = 0.01). Serum 25(OH)D was positively associated with TBLH and lower-limb aBMD (ß = 0.09, 95% CI 0.01-0.18, p = 0.03). There were no interactions between PA intensity and serum 25(OH)D with aBMD. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D status, MPA and MVPA levels in active prepubertal children were positively associated with aBMD. The influence of MVPA is due to the MPA component, though our findings regarding the role of VPA should be interpreted with caution, as shorter accelerometer epochs are needed to more accurately assess VPA. This study adds evidence to the promotion of MPA and behaviours to encourage optimal vitamin D status in supporting skeletal health in childhood, though these need not be used in conjunction to be beneficial, and a sex-specific approach is not necessary in prepubertal children. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01803776 . Date of registration: 4/03/2013.

Cost-effectiveness of screening for familial abdominal aortic aneurysms.

BACKGROUND: Screening for familial abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is widely recommended. To analyze cost-effectiveness of screening for familial AAAs incremental cost-effectiveness (C/E) analysis based on an ultrasound screening among relatives and a decision model of screening program was compared to a baseline situation without systematic screening. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 74% (238/322) of first-degree relatives of 150 consecutive AAA patients were screened at HUCH (Helsinki University Central Hospital). Effectiveness and costs of treatment were assessed using the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and from survival analysis of 1130 AAA patients who underwent elective or emergency surgery in HUCH. To form incremental C/E-ratios the existing clinical practice was compared to a screening program for male siblings. Hypothetical screened and control cohorts of 1000 male relatives were used to create the decision model. Parameters in C/E-analyses were derived from our own data except for growth and rupture rates. A sensitivity analysis was carried out. RESULTS: The incremental effectiveness in life-years gained by the screening of male siblings was 92 years with incremental C/E-ratio of FIM 33,000 ($6200). According to sensitivity analysis the C/E-ratios were robust for all variables tested. CONCLUSIONS: Screening of male siblings of AAA patients produces incremental life-years at low cost thus screening of male siblings is highly recommended.

Cost-effectiveness of targeted screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Monte Carlo-based estimates.

OBJECTIVES: This article reports a cost-effectiveness analysis of targeted screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). A major emphasis was on the estimation of distributions of costs and effectiveness. METHODS: We performed a Monte Carlo simulation using C programming language in a PC environment. Data on survival and costs, and a majority of screening probabilities, were from our own empirical studies. Natural history data were based on the literature. RESULTS: Each screened male gained 0.07 life-years at an incremental cost of FIM 3,300. The expected values differed from zero very significantly. For females, expected gains were 0.02 life-years at an incremental cost of FIM 1,100, which was not statistically significant. Cost-effectiveness ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were FIM 48,000 (27,000-121,000) and 54,000 (22,000-infinity) for males and females, respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the results for males were stable. Individual variation in life-year gains was high. CONCLUSIONS: Males seemed to benefit from targeted AAA screening, and the results were stable. As far as the cost-effectiveness ratio is considered acceptable, screening for males seemed to be justified. However, our assumptions about growth and rupture behavior of AAAs might be improved with further clinical and epidemiological studies. As a point estimate, females benefited in a similar manner, but the results were not statistically significant. The evidence of this study did not justify screening of females.

Emergency surgery of non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The pain of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is believed to signify rupture, and emergency surgery for symptomatic AAA is a widely accepted practice to prevent rupture. To clarify the benefit of emergency surgery we evaluated the clinical course of emergency treated patients with non-ruptured AAAs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 110 patients (90 men, mean age 69, range 49-93; 20 women, mean age 75, range 63-89) underwent emergency repair of non-ruptured AAA between 1970 and 1992 at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH). Survival rates after surgery were analysed using product-limit-survivorship method. The survival rates after age-stratification were compared with those of patients undergone elective surgery (n=599) or emergency surgery because of ruptured AAAs (n=363) during the same period. Risk factors affecting early and late survival rates after operation were analysed by logistic regression analysis and Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: Thirty-day operative mortality rates were 18 % (20/110) in the emergency non-ruptured group, compared with 7 % (42/599) in the elective group and 49 % (179/363) in the ruptured group (p<0.05). Thirty day survival rate was not changed among the nonruptured emergency group from 1970 to 1992, whereas the rates of ruptured and elective groups became better during the study period. Late survival rates for 30-day postoperative survivors were clearly reduced among the non-ruptured emergency group, without difference between the emergency operated ruptured and non-ruptured groups. Coronary artery disease was decreasing significantly early and late survival rates after emergency surgery for non-ruptured AAAs (p<0.05, logistic regression and p<0.001 Cox proportional hazard). CONCLUSIONS: Early and late mortality risk is significantly higher (p<0.001) after emergency surgery for haemodynamically stable non-ruptured AAA than after elective surgery, mainly because of coronary artery disease.

Familial occurrence of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

BACKGROUND: A family history of abdominal aortic aneurysm has been reported to increase the risk for developing the disease. OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm in first-degree relatives of patients with the disease. DESIGN: Cross-sectional ultrasonographic screening study. SETTING: University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. PATIENTS: 238 of 325 living first-degree relatives of patients having surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm (age > 50 years; 98 men and 110 women) and 281 controls (135 men and 149 women) without a family history of abdominal aortic aneurysm. MEASUREMENTS: Ultrasonography was used to measure aortic diameter in 101 male relatives and 140 female relatives (241 of the 325 persons at risk [74%]) and in 281 controls. RESULTS: Three siblings had already undergone surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Eleven siblings (all brothers) (11 of 101 [10.9%]) had ultrasonographic evidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (aortic diameter > 30 mm). In the control group, 2 men (1.5%) and 2 women (1.3%) had an aneurysm. Thirty siblings and no controls had dilatation of the abdominal aorta (aortic diameter, 20 to 29 mm). Neither the age nor the sex of the proband affected risk for developing abdominal aortic aneurysm among first-degree relatives. Family history increased the risk for an aneurysm by 4.33-fold (95% CI, 1.32-fold to 14.23-fold), male sex increased the risk by 12.21-fold (CI, 2.63-fold to 56.64-fold), and age (by decade) increased the risk by 1.93-fold (CI, 1.15-fold to 3.25-fold). CONCLUSION: Aging brothers of patients with known abdominal aortic aneurysm have the highest risk for developing the disease; the prevalence of the disease in siblings older than 60 years of age is 18%.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery in octogenarians.

BACKGROUND: It is difficult to decide whether to operate on a symptomless, abdominal aortic aneurysm in an elderly person almost in the last decade of their life. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A comparative retrospective review was undertaken of 77 octogenarians and 692 other patients aged less than 80 treated for infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms between January 1980 and July 1992 at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland. Of these 77 octogenarians, 60 underwent surgery and 17 were treated non-surgically. Of the 60, 48 (80%), and 284 of the 692 (41%) non-octogenarians underwent emergency surgery either because of ruptured aneurysm (RAAA group: 35 octogenarians and 213 non-octogenarians) or because of non-ruptured but impending rupture (NRAAA group: 13 octogenarians and 71 non-octogenarians). RESULTS: Emergency surgery was more frequent among octogenarians than among younger patients (p < 0.001) and was associated with significantly higher 30-day mortality rates in the RAAA group: 71% (22/35) versus 36% (76/213) (p < 0.01) and in the NRAAA group: 38% (5/13) versus 14% (10/71) (p < 0.05). Elective surgery for symptomless abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA group) was associated with 8% (1/12) 30-day mortality rates in octogenarians and 8% (33/408) in non-octogenarians. Survival rates for non-surgically treated symptomless octogenarians were statistically significantly lower (log rank test) than for electively treated octogenarians and for an age- and sex-matched Finnish population. Median survival for non-surgically treated octogenarians was 2.5 years (SE 0.13), with 50% of the patients dying from rupture of their aneurysms during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: These findings support the active treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms on an elective basis among the elderly.

Comparison of long-term survival after repair of ruptured and non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Late survival rates were compared and analysed for 1070 patients undergoing repair of ruptured infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA, n = 364, mean age 70.0 years, male:female ratio 5.6:1) and non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA, n = 706, mean age 66.6 years, male: female ratio 5.4:1) between January 1970 and July 1992 at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland. There was a statistically significant difference in survival rates between the RAAA and AAA groups during the first three months after repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Operative mortality rates were 7.4% for electively repaired abdominal aortic aneurysms and 48.7% for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. For 3-month postoperative survivors there existed no statistically significant difference in late survival rates, nor did these rates differ from those of an age- and sex-matched population. Five-year survival rates for 3-month postoperative survivors were 60% in the RAAA group and 67% in the AAA group. Median survival time was 5.7 years and 7.5 years, respectively. Coronary artery disease, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and renal insufficiency statistically significantly reduced late survival rates after 3 months post-surgery for non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, whereas these risk factors did not alter late prognosis after successful repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Cerebrovascular disease reduced late survival rates both in AAA (median survival time 6.3 years) and RAAA group (median survival time 4.9 years). Of late deaths 41% were caused by coronary artery disease in the AAA group and 38% in the RAAA group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Prosthetic bifurcation grafting in occlusive and aneurysmal aortoiliac disease--a follow-up study.

A comparative clinical study was made of patients undergone prosthetic bifurcation grafting for non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm n = 135 or aortoiliac occlusive disease n = 180 between January 1982 and December 1986. Patients in aneurysmal group were older, predominantly men, had hypertension more often and had better distal run-off at the time of operation. Smoking was over-presented among aortoiliac occlusive disease patients. Patients operated for abdominal aortic aneurysms had better early and late graft patency rates and lower late amputation rates. There were no significant differences in operative mortality rates and late survival rates between occlusive disease and aneurysmal patients. Cardiac mortality mainly reduced early and late survival rates in both patient groups. We should begin to use systematically a reliable and non-invasive method for screening the myocardial status in patients who are going to be operated for abdominal aortic aneurysm or aortoiliac occlusive disease.