Luigi Pascarella

Medical management of venous ulcers

Venous disease is the most common cause of chronic leg ulceration and represents an advanced clinical manifestation of venous insufficiency. Due to their frequency and chronicity, venous ulcers have a high socioeconomic impact, with treatment costs accounting for 1% of the health care budget in Western countries. The evaluation of patients with venous ulcers should include a thorough medical history for prior deep venous thrombosis, assessment for an hypercoagulable state, and a physical examination. Use of the CEAP (clinical, etiology, anatomy, pathophysiology) Classification System and the revised Venous Clinical Severity Scoring System is strongly recommended to characterize disease severity and assess response to treatment. This venous condition requires lifestyle modification, with affected individuals performing daily intervals of leg elevation to control edema; use of elastic compression garments; and moderate physical activity, such as walking wearing below-knee elastic stockings. Meticulous skin care, treatment of dermatitis, and prompt treatment of cellulitis are important aspects of medical management. The pharmacology of chronic venous insufficiency and venous ulcers include essentially two medications: pentoxifylline and phlebotropic agents. The micronized purified flavonoid fraction is an effective adjunct to compression therapy in patients with large, chronic ulceration.

Endovascular Treatment of a Traumatic Thoracic Aortic Injury in an Eight-Year Old Patient: Case Report and Review of Literature

Traumatic aortic injuries in children and adolescents are rare. Although endovascular repair has become the preferred approach for such injuries in adults, open repair has endured as the gold standard in children owing mainly to the smaller aortic and access vessel diameter and the scarcity of long-term follow-up data. We report a successful endovascular repair of a traumatic thoracic aortic injury in an 8-year-old girl using a Zenith Alpha thoracic endograft (Cook Medical, Bloomington, IN). We also review the literature on endovascular treatment of traumatic aortic injuries in the pediatric population.

Overview of Venous Disorders

Venous disorders are among the most common conditions in the Western world. To understand the various venous disorders, it is important to understand the normal anatomy. Venous disorders can be divided into acute and chronic.

Intermittent pneumatic compression is effective in reducing venous thromboembolism risk in hospitalised patients

Commentary on: Ho KM, Tan JA. Stratified meta-analysis of intermittent pneumatic compression of the lower limbs to prevent venous thromboembolism in hospitalized patients. Circulation 2013;128:1003–20.[OpenUrl][1][Abstract/FREE Full Text][2] The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 1–2 patients/1000/year. A total of 60–100 000 patients in the USA die of DVT or PE annually, with 10–30% expiring within 1 month of diagnosis. Recurrence rates of DVT/PE are as high as 33% within 10 years.1 Increased incidence of DVT and PE has been reported among hospitalised and critically ill patients. DVT risk in this subset can be as high as 81% without thromboprophylaxis and 44% with thromboprophylaxis, while 12% progress to PE in spite of … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DCirculation%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1161%252FCIRCULATIONAHA.113.002690%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F23852609%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/ijlink?linkType=ABST&journalCode=circulationaha&resid=128/9/1003&atom=%2Febmed%2F19%2F3%2F104.atom

Venous thromboembolism: diagnosis and current anticoagulation strategies for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

Abstract The diagnosis and treatment of venous thromboembolic events represents a significant source of medical spending, both domestically and worldwide. Advances in medical imaging and pharmacology continue to alter and improve established treatment paradigms. In this article, we discuss venous thromboembolism etiology, diagnosis, and rationale for current and future treatment strategies.