[Trends in mortality related to pulmonary embolism in the DACH countries]. / Sterblichkeit der Lungenembolie in der DACH-Region.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary embolism (PE)-related mortality is decreasing worldwide. AIM: Little is known about the burden imposed by pulmonary embolism for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH countries). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We aimed to assess pulmonary embolism-related mortality and time trends for the DACH countries based on data from the WHO Mortality Database. Deaths were considered pulmonary embolism-related if the International Classification of Disease-10 code for acute pulmonary embolism or any code for deep or superficial vein thrombosis was listed as the primary cause of death. RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2015, age-standardized annual pulmonary embolism-related mortality rates decreased linearly from 15.6 to 7.8 deaths per 1000 population. In the 5­year period between 2012 and 2016, an average of 9127 pulmonary embolism-related deaths occurred annually in the DACH countries with a population of 98,273,329. Interestingly, pulmonary embolism-related mortality rates were considerably higher among women aged 15-55 years compared to age-matched men. CONCLUSION: The observed decreasing trends in pulmonary embolism-related mortality might reflect improved management of the disease including new treatment options as well as advances in imaging technologies. However, pulmonary embolism remains a substantial contributor to total mortality, especially among women aged 15-55 years. For this reason, campaigns to increase physician and public awareness are urgently required to further improve the management and treatment of this preventable thrombotic disorder, which still remains the leading preventable cause of death.

Thrombosis and Dissection of the Abdominal Arteries Associated with Infarcts of Solid Organs in a Patient with COVID-19: A Novel Clinical Entity.

The clinical spectrum of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ranges from asymptomatic cases to severe pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome. COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic complications, notably pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. Arterial cardiovascular complications and myocarditis have also been described in association with COVID-19, but appear to be less prevalent. In this report of a 57-year-old man with multiple splanchnic infarctions, arterial dissections and COVID-19 as the sole potential trigger, we describe a novel type of complications and put it in the context of a growing literature on this topic.

Clinical presentation and long-term follow-up of 45 patients with Mondor disease: A single-center longitudinal study.

Mondor disease is characterized by an acute painful thrombophlebitis occurring at specific anatomical sites. Data on its incidence, characteristics of clinical presentation, and course are unavailable to date. We studied the course of Mondor disease in patients diagnosed and followed at the University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland) between 2004 and 2020. The primary study outcomes were a diagnosis of active cancer either at the time of clinical diagnosis of Mondor disease or within 1 year, as well as 1-year all-cause death and recurrent Mondor disease. We included 45 patients and classified them into one of the three Mondor disease subgroups: thoracic (n = 26), penile (n = 12), or axillary (n = 7). The median age was 39 (Q1-Q3: 30-45) years and 44% of patients were men. Surgery was the likely cause of Mondor disease in 53.8% of patients with a thoracic form, 41.7% of those with a penile location, and all of those with an axillary location. Known active cancer was present in nine (20%) of 45 patients at baseline. One-year follow-up was available for 43 patients (median 94 months), whereas 6-month data were available for the remaining two patients. During the available follow-up, no patient had a new diagnosis of cancer. In conclusion, one in five patients with Mondor disease had known cancer at the time of diagnosis. During follow-up, the rate of new cancer diagnosis and death was negligible, providing reassurance about the good prognosis of this condition. Based on these preliminary data, extended cancer screening besides what is recommended by current guidelines for the general population might not be necessary in patients with Mondor disease.

Long-term follow-up after endovascular revascularisation for acute limb ischaemia--a retrospective single-centre cohort.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the long-term outcome after endovascular revascularisation for acute limb ischaemia (ALI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: From a prospectively maintained database, 318 endovascular interventions for ALI were identified between 2004 and 2010. Event history and survival were analysed using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression. Endpoints were target vessel revascularisation (TVR), non-target extremity revascularisation (NTER), amputation, major vascular events, coronary artery revascularisation and amputation-free survival. RESULTS: Follow-up data of 303 patients (mean age 68.5 ± 12.7 years, 40% female) were available. The mean follow-up time was 38.7 ± 26.2 months. TVR was performed in 40.1 ± 2.9% at 1 year and 66.5 ± 3.8% at 5 years. NTER at 1 and 5 years were 7.1 ± 1.5% and 29.2 ± 4%, respectively. The proportion of patients who needed major or minor amputation was 4.3 ± 1.2% after 1 year and 9 ± 2.1% after 5 years. Amputation-free survival at 1 year was 90.3 ± 1.8% and 74.8 ± 3.2% at 5 years. Coronary artery disease (HR 2.22, 95% CI 1.33 to 3.7, p = 0.002) and atrial fibrillation (HR 2.56, % CI 1.3 to 5.04, p = 0.007) were independently associated with a worse amputation-free survival. The cumulative proportion surviving one year following acute limb ischemia was 95.4 ± 1.2% and 79.7 ± 3.1% after 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term amputation-free survival after successful revascularisation for ALI is high; negative predictors are coronary artery disease and atrial fibrillation.

Differences in cardiovascular risk factors between patients with acute limb ischemia and intermittent claudication.

In this retrospective study, cardiovascular risk factors of patients with acute limb ischemia (ALI) were compared with those of intermittent claudication (IC). Furthermore, the association of ALI with environmental temperature and/or hematocrit level was tested. A total of 436 patients treated for ALI and 832 patients with IC were included in the analysis. Diabetes (P = .0001), smoking (P < .0001), and hypertension (P < .0001) were significantly less prevalent in the patients with ALI. Patients with IC had a higher rate of coronary artery disease (P = .003), and patients with ALI had a higher rate of cerebrovascular disease (P < .0001). There was no association between the outside temperature or hematocrit level and the occurrence of ALI. The hypothesis of seasonal incidence of ALI could not be confirmed, and there was no association of ALI with the hematocrit level.