Adiponectin is related with carotid artery intima-media thickness and brachial flow-mediated dilatation in young adults--the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.
Adiponectin may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. We investigated the relation of adiponectin on early functional and structural markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in a large population-based cohort of young men and women.
We measured serum adiponectin using radioimmunoassay in 2,147 young adults (ages 24-39 years) participating in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. The subjects had ultrasound data on carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), carotid artery elasticity (n = 2,139) and brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) (n = 1,996). In univariate analysis, adiponectin was inversely associated with IMT (r = -0.16, P
Adult-type hypolactasia is not a predisposing factor for the early functional and structural changes of atherosclerosis: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.
Laboratory of Atherosclerosis Genetics, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Tampere University Hospital and the Medical School at the University of Tampere, 33014 Tampere, Finland. terho.lehtimaki@uta.fi
Individuals suffering from ATH (adult-type hypolactasia), defined by the LCT (gene encoding lactase-phlorizin hydrolase) C/C(-13910) genotype (rs4988235), use less milk and dairy products and may have higher plasma HDL (high-density lipoprotein) and lower triacylglycerol (triglyceride) concentrations than their counterparts without ATH. To investigate the effects of ATH status on the early markers of atherosclerosis, we examined its association with CIMT (carotid intima-media thickness), CAC (carotid artery compliance) and brachial artery FMD (flow-mediated dilation) in a young population-based cohort of otherwise healthy individuals. As part of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, we performed CIMT, CAC and FMD analyses, LCT C/T(-13910) genotyping and risk factor determination in 2109 young subjects 24-39 years of age (45% males) at the time of the examination. The consumption of both milk and dairy products was lowest and the consumption of alcohol highest in subjects with the C/C(-13910) genotype (P
Atherosclerosis begins early in life and is the major underlying cause of cardiovascular morbidity and death. Yet, population-based information on age and sex differences in the extent and morphology of atherosclerosis throughout life is scarce. Carotid atherosclerosis can be visualized with B-mode ultrasound and is a marker of atherosclerosis elsewhere in the circulation. We assessed both the prevalence and the morphology of carotid atherosclerosis by B-mode ultrasound in 3016 men and 3404 women, 25 to 84 years old, who participated in a population health survey. The participation rate was 88%. Plaque morphology was graded according to whether a plaque was predominantly soft (echolucent) or hard (echogenic). Atherosclerotic plaques were found in 55.4% of the men and 45.8% of the women. In men, there was a linear increase with age in the prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis, whereas in women, there was a curvilinear age trend, with an inflection in the prevalence rate of women at approximately 50 years of age. The male predominance in atherosclerosis declined after the age of 50 years, the plaque prevalence being similar in elderly men and women. Men had softer plaques than women; this sex difference in plaque morphology increased significantly (P=0.005) with age. The sex difference in the prevalence of atherosclerosis and the female age trend in atherosclerosis show significant changes at the age of approximately 50 years, suggesting an adverse effect of menopause on atherosclerosis. The higher proportion of soft plaques in men compared with women increases with age and may partly account for the prevailing male excess risk of coronary heart disease in the elderly despite a similar prevalence of atherosclerosis in elderly men and women.
The authors analyse herein the reasonable use of ultrasonographic methods of examination of carotid arteries for diagnosis of stenosing pathology in hypertensive patients. At the stage of primary medical care of the city of Chelyabinsk, a non-selective referral of patients presenting with elevated arterial pressure to duplex ultrasonography of the carotid artery is not uncommon. Doubtful criteria of selecting the hypertensive patients who really require undergoing ultrasonography of the carotid artery result in low efficacy of the examination.
Aim of the study was to analyze causes of pulmonary artery thromboembolism (PATE) hypodiagnostics at prehospital stage. We compared clinical and electrocardiographic picture of acute period of the disease in groups of patients with diagnosed (n=61) and undiagnosed (n=22) PATE at prehospital stage. We also assessed retrospectively probability of PATE according to Revised Geneva Score. In 49 cases we analyzed dynamics of the acute period of PATE. The analysis showed that in more than 50% of cases hypodiagnostics of PATE was caused by similarity of observed clinical and electrocardiographical picture and that of acute coronary syndrome. There were no differences between groups in Revised Geneva Score.
Analysed herein are remote results of surgical management of patients presenting with atherosclerotic stenoses of carotid arteries by means of eversion carotid endarterectomy. Over the period from 2002 to 2007 specialists of the Department of Vascular Surgery of the Institute of Surgery named after A.V. Vishnevsky under the RF Ministry of Public Health carried out a total of 393 eversion carotid endarterectomies in 356 patients. We assessed the remote results of 338 (86%) operations in 303 (85%) patients, analysing survival, freedom from stroke, patency of the reconstructed internal carotid artery and effects of risk factors on these indices. The average duration of follow-up amounted to 84 ± 31 months (max - 146 mos). A total of 242 (71.2%) patients survived. The cumulative 5-year survival rate amounted to 84%, with 10-year survival equalling 63%. Severity of the initial atherosclerotic lesion of the arterial bed, progression of atherosclerosis, and control over risk factors for atherosclerosis exerted a statistically significant influence on total survival. Acute disorders of cerebral circulation (of any localization) at a median follow-up of 81 ± 33 months (max - 146 mos) developed in 38 (12.1%) patients, of whom in 15 (4.8%) it terminated with a lethal outcome. Five-year cumulative freedom from stroke amounted to 92%, equalling 80% 10 years after. The risk factors which influenced the freedom from stroke included a history of acute impairments of cerebral circulation, restenoses of the reconstructed ipsilateral internal carotid artery (>70%), and diabetes mellitus. Amongst the examined by means of ultrasonography 164 patients, patency of the reconstructed ipsilateral internal carotid artery at an average follow-up of 75 ± 28 months (max - 135 mos) amounted to 95%. Haemodynamically significant restenoses (= 70%) were revealed in eight (5%) cases. Of these, three (2%) patients had narrowing of 70-89% and the remaining five (3%) patients had narrowing of = 90% (including 2 occlusions of the reconstructed ipsilateral internal carotid artery). We revealed no risk factors influencing the development of restenosis of the reconstructed ipsilateral internal carotid artery after eversion carotid endarterectomy. The obtained findings give grounds to consider eversion carotid endarterectomy as a safe and reliable method for treatment of atherosclerotic lesions of carotid arteries and, consequently, for prevention of stroke. Control of risk factors may improve remote results of surgical treatment.
Arterial aneurysms in children are extremely rare and can be of congenital, inflammatory, and infectious nature or secondary to trauma. The authors describe the case of a 8-year-old boy who was admitted in the hospital with fever and severe groin pain. He had a true saccular aneurysm of 4 cm in diameter originating from the profunda femoris artery with, according to the clinical and angiographic findings, arteriovenous communication with the femoral veins. Because the aneurysm was firmly adherent to the deep femoral vein, the latter was resected and the venous continuity was restored with a saphenous vein bypass graft. The patient recovered without any complication. The histologic examination showed a normal intimal layer and partially disrupted medial elastic fibers without inflammatory infiltrate, suggesting the diagnosis of a true arterial aneurysm.
Apolipoprotein A-I/C-III/A-IV SstI and apolipoprotein B XbaI polymorphisms and their association with carotid artery intima-media thickness in the Finnish population. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.
Laboratory of Atherosclerosis Genetics, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Medical School, Tampere University Hospital, The University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
Apolipoprotein A-I/C-III/A-IV (apoA-I/C-III/A-IV) SstI and apolipoprotein B (apoB) XbaI polymorphisms have been shown to affect serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations in a sample of Finnish children. We studied whether these polymorphism are associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of pre-clinical atherosclerosis, measured in the same subjects during their adulthood. A random sub-sample of 214 individuals from the "Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns" study, for whom genotypes, cardiovascular risk factor data and carotid artery IMT measured in 2001 were available, were studied. Mean carotid IMT values increased according to the apoA-I/C-III/A-IV SstI genotype groups in the order of S1S1 (0.58+/-0.08 mm), S1S2 (0.61+/-0.08 mm), and S2S2 (0.70+/-0.16 mm, p=0.02, ANOVA). In multiple linear regression analysis after adjusting for age, sex and body mass index the mean IMT thickness among the S2 allele carriers was higher (p=0.02) compared to non-carriers. In logistic regression analysis the frequency of S2 allele carriers was higher among the high IMT group compared to the low IMT group (OR=4.02, CI: 1.68-9.61, p=0.002). No significant association between apoB XbaI polymorphism and carotid IMT was found. However, serum total and LDL cholesterol and apoB concentrations were significantly different among apoB genotype groups (p
