vascular medicin

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to skeletal changes, including bone loss in the unfractured skeleton, and paradoxically accelerates healing of bone fractures; however, the mechanisms remain unclear. TBI is associated with a hyperadrenergic state characterized by increased norepinephrine release. Here, we identified the β2 -adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) as a mediator of skeletal changes in response to increased norepinephrine. In a murine model of femoral osteotomy combined with cortical impact brain injury, TBI was associated with ADRB2-dependent enhanced fracture healing compared with osteotomy alone...

Vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) is the second leading cause of dementia with limited treatment options, characterised by cerebral hypoperfusion-induced white matter rarefaction (WMR). Subcortical VCI is the most common form of VCI, but the underlying reasons for region susceptibility remain elusive. Recent studies employing the bilateral cortical artery stenosis (BCAS) method demonstrate that various inflammasomes regulate white matter injury and blood-brain barrier dysfunction but whether caspase-1 inhibition will be beneficial remains unclear...

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to examine the potential association between migraine and vascular dementia (VaD) using a nationwide population database. BACKGROUND: Migraine and VaD showed similar structural and functional changes in pathophysiology process and shared common risk factors, However, whether migraine prevalence increases VaD incidence remains controversial. METHODS: This retrospective population-based cohort study used the medical records from the Korean National Health Insurance System database...

BACKGROUND: Hepatic fibrosis (HF) is a histopathological change in the process of long-term liver injury caused by cytokine secretion and internal environment disturbance, resulting in excessive liver repair and fiber scar. Nogo-B protein is widely distributed in peripheral tissues and organs and can regulate the migration of endothelial cells by activating TGF-β1 in vascular remodeling after injury. Nogo-B has been shown to promote organ fibrosis. This study was to determine the role of Nogo-B in HF...

INTRODUCTION: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a common cause of stroke/vascular dementia with few effective treatments. Neuroinflammation and increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability may influence pathogenesis. In rodent models, minocycline reduced inflammation/BBB permeability. We determined whether minocycline had a similar effect in patients with SVD. METHODS: MINERVA was a single-center, phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial...

Frequent incidence of post-weaning enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) diarrhea in the swine industry contributes to high mortality rates and associated economic losses. In this study, a combination of butyric, caprylic, and capric fatty acid monoglycerides was investigated to promote intestinal integrity and host defenses in weanling pigs infected with ETEC. A total of 160 pigs were allotted to treatment groups based on weight and sex. Throughout the 17-d study, 3 treatment groups were maintained: sham-inoculated pigs fed a control diet [uninfected control (UC), n = 40], ETEC-inoculated pigs fed the same control diet [infected control (IC), n = 60], and ETEC-inoculated pigs fed the control diet supplemented with monoglycerides included at 0...

The hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is characterized by arterial oxygenation defect induced by intrapulmonary vascular dilatations in the setting of liver disease. We report a 57-year-old woman with a history of liver cirrhosis presented with progressive cyanosis, exertional dyspnea and a dry cough. Oxyhemoglobin saturation was 88.5% on room air. Contrast transthoracic echocardiography (cTTE) and technetium-99m-macroaggregated albumin (99m Tc-MAA) scintigraphy showed an intrapulmonary shunting and confirmed HPS...

BACKGROUND: Recurrent malignant pleural effusion (MPE) resulting from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is easily refractory to conventional therapeutics and lacks predictive markers. The cellular or genetic signatures of recurrent MPE still remain largely uncertain. METHODS: 16 NSCLC patients with pleural effusions were recruited, followed by corresponding treatments based on primary tumours. Non-recurrent or recurrent MPE was determined after 3-6 weeks of treatments...

<b/> Background: In the latest American Heart Association guidelines, influenza vaccination is recommended for patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The vaccination coverage in this specific population is currently unknown. This study aims to determine the adherence to influenza vaccination in a PAD population and identify associated determinants. Patients and methods. Hospitalized patients and outpatients with PAD from two university departments of vascular medicine were prospectively included...

OBJECTIVE: The subscapular artery vascularizes a substantial region of the thoracic wall, and the significance of its distribution is well depicted in the diversity of reconstructive procedures that rely on its blood supply. The aim of this study is to present an uncommon anatomical variation of the artery and discuss the clinical implications of its presence. CASE REPORT: This case report depicts a rare variant of compression and the kinking of the subscapular artery by the radial nerve on the posterior wall of the axilla that was encountered during dissection of a male cadaver of Greek origin...

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus-19 (COVID) stressed healthcare systems by increasing hospital admissions and in-hospital mortality. The impact of COVID on surgical patients is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the COVID pandemic affected surgical patients at a large quaternary referral hospital. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients undergoing surgical procedures was performed to evaluate patients undergoing surgery. The impact of COVID on surgical patients was divided into four timeframes based on government regulations: pre-COVID (January 1, 2020 to March 15, 2020), suspended (March 16, 2020 to May 4, 2020), backlogged cases (May 5, 2020 to June 14, 2020), and restoration (June 15, 2020 to September 30, 2020)...

BACKGROUND: A Blauth IIIB hypoplastic thumb is a significant functional and cosmetic problem for the developing hand in children. The gold standard in treatment is amputation and index pollicization. Despite the good functional results, some parents do not consent to the operation, mainly for cosmetic reasons. OBJECTIVES: The aim is to present a detailed description and features of the technique used in our department for stabilization of a hypoplastic thumb type Blauth IIIB with a non-vascularized proximal interphalangeal joint from the toe...

BACKGROUND: Huntington's disease (HD) is marked by a CAG-repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene that causes neuronal dysfunction and loss, affecting mainly the striatum and the cortex. Alterations in the neurovascular coupling system have been shown to lead to dysregulated energy supply to brain regions in several neurological diseases, including HD, which could potentially trigger the process of neurodegeneration. In particular, it has been observed in cross-sectional human HD studies that vascular alterations are associated to impaired cerebral blood flow (CBF)...

BACKGROUND: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a leading cause of vision loss in patients with diabetes. This study aimed to develop and evaluate an OCT-omics prediction model for assessing anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment response in patients with DME. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 113 eyes from 82 patients with DME was conducted. Comprehensive feature engineering was applied to clinical and optical coherence tomography (OCT) data. Logistic regression, support vector machine (SVM), and backpropagation neural network (BPNN) classifiers were trained using a training set of 79 eyes, and evaluated on a test set of 34 eyes...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the ability of 18 FDG PET/CT, at diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) and during follow-up, to predict occurrence of relapse in large-vessel GCA (LV-GCA). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study using the French Study Group for Large-Vessel Vasculitis (GEFA) network. Data from patients with LV-GCA diagnosed by PET/CT and who had PET/CT in the following year were collected. For each PET/CT, PET vascular activity score (PETVAS) and total vascular score (TVS) were assessed, and their ability to predict the occurrence of subsequent relapse was assessed...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the microvascular anatomy of the equine hind limb suspensory ligament. ANIMALS: 18 hind limbs harvested from 9 adult horses euthanized for reasons unrelated to lameness. METHODS: A catheter was placed in the transected cranial tibial artery at the level of the mid-distal tibia for each hind limb and used to inject 120 to 150 mL of contrast medium (2 limbs) to identify principal vasculature using contrast-enhanced CT or India ink (11 limbs) to identify microvasculature using the Spalteholz tissue-clearing technique...

BACKGROUND: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is useful in disease treatment and prevention. Genipin is an active TCM compound used to treat diabetic retinopathy (DR). In this study, a network pharmacology (NP)-based approach was employed to investigate the therapeutic mechanisms underlying genipin administration in DR. METHODS: The potential targets of DR were identified using the gene expression omnibus (GEO) database. TCM database screening and NP were used to predict the potential active targets and pathways of genipin in DR...

RATIONALE: Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a severe complication of liver diseases characterized by abnormal dilatation of pulmonary vessels, resulting in impaired oxygenation. Recent research highlights the pivotal role of liver-produced bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-9 in maintaining pulmonary vascular integrity. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the involvement of BMP-9 in human and experimental HPS. METHODS: Circulating BMP-9 levels were measured in 63 healthy controls and 203 cirrhotic patients, with or without HPS...

AIM: To evaluate the quantity and quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in hepatobiliary surgery and for identifying gaps in current evidences. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE (via PubMed), Web of Science, and Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL) for RCTs of hepatobiliary surgery published from inception until the end of 2023. The quality of each study was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias (RoB) tool. The associations between risk of bias and the region and publication date were also assessed...

Analytic morphomics refers to the accurate measurement of specific biological markers of human body composition in diagnostic medical imaging. The increasing prevalence of disease processes that alter body composition including obesity, cachexia, and sarcopenia has generated interest in specific targeted measurement of these metrics to possibly prevent or reduce negative health outcomes. Typical morphomic measurements include the area and density of muscle, bone, vascular calcification, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat on a specific validated axial level in the patient's cross-sectional diagnostic imaging...