Asia-Pacific Consensus Statement on the Management of Peripheral Artery Disease: A Report from the Asian Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Disease Asia-Pacific Peripheral Artery Disease Consensus Statement Project Committee.

BACKGROUND: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is the most underdiagnosed, underestimated and undertreated of the atherosclerotic vascular diseases despite its poor prognosis. There may be racial or contextual differences in the Asia-Pacific region as to epidemiology, availability of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, and even patient treatment response. The Asian Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases (APSAVD) thus coordinated the development of an Asia-Pacific Consensus Statement (APCS) on the Management of PAD. OBJECTIVES: The APSAVD aimed to accomplish the following: 1) determine the applicability of the 2016 AHA/ACC guidelines on the Management of Patients with Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease to the Asia-Pacific region; 2) review Asia-Pacific literature; and 3) increase the awareness of PAD. METHODOLOGY: A Steering Committee was organized to oversee development of the APCS, appoint a Technical Working Group (TWG) and Consensus Panel (CP). The TWG appraised the relevance of the 2016 AHA/ACC PAD Guideline and proposed recommendations which were reviewed by the CP using a modified Delphi technique. RESULTS: A total of 91 recommendations were generated covering history and physical examination, diagnosis, and treatment of PAD-3 new recommendations, 31 adaptations and 57 adopted statements. This Asia-Pacific Consensus Statement on the Management of PAD constitutes the first for the Asia-Pacific Region. It is intended for use by health practitioners involved in preventing, diagnosing and treating patients with PAD and ultimately the patients and their families themselves.

Retropharyngeal pseudoabscess manifesting in nephrotic syndrome.

We describe a case of nephrotic syndrome that manifested as a retropharyngeal pseudoabscess. The patient was a 32-year-old man who presented with a short history of throat discomfort and a choking sensation. Laryngoscopy identified bulging of the posterior pharyngeal wall that partially occluded the laryngeal inlet. A lateral neck x-ray revealed that the prevertebral space was widened, and computed tomography detected fluid in the retropharyngeal and parapharyngeal spaces. Neck exploration revealed that the edema had been caused by nonsuppurative fluid. Biochemical analyses revealed marked hypoalbuminemia and heavy proteinuria suggestive of nephrotic syndrome. Following surgery, the patient's symptoms resolved. Aseptic effusion into the retropharyngeal space is rare; reported etiologies include internal jugular vein thrombosis, neoplasia, radiation therapy, trauma, acute calcific tendinitis, hereditary angioedema, and myxedema of hypothyroidism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of nephrotic syndrome initially manifesting as retropharyngeal pseudoabscess to be reported in the literature. Thrombotic occlusion of the pharyngeal venous plexus secondary to hypercoagulability is a plausible explanation for such isolated retropharyngeal effusion.

Portal vein thrombosis: a clinician-oriented and practical review.

With advances in modern imaging techniques, portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is being increasingly diagnosed. It has a wide ranging clinical spectrum from being an asymptomatic state to a potentially life-threatening situation. It is not unusual to find it as an incidental finding in the abdominal imagings done for other reasons. It is commonly associated with cirrhosis and abdominal malignancies and also has a strong association with prothrombotic disorders. It is often difficult for the clinicians to decide whether PVT is acute or chronic. This poses great challenges to its management strategies that include anticoagulants, thrombolysis, and surgical options. Timely diagnosis and appropriate management have great bearings on its outcomes of morbidity and mortality. In this clinician-oriented review, we have provided a concise review of clinical aspects of PVT and discussed various management strategies while addressing the common questions that come to a physician's mind dealing with such a patient.

Consensus recommendations for preventing and managing bleeding complications associated with novel oral anticoagulants in singapore.

INTRODUCTION: Novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have at least equivalent efficacy compared to standard anticoagulants with similar bleeding risk. Optimal management strategies for bleeding complications associated with NOACs are currently unestablished. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A working group comprising haematologists and vascular medicine specialists representing the major institutions in Singapore was convened to produce this consensus recommendation. A Medline and EMBASE search was conducted for articles related to the 3 available NOACs (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban), bleeding and its management. Additional information was obtained from the product monographs and bibliographic search of articles identified. RESULTS: The NOACs still has substantial interactions with a number of drugs for which concomitant administration should best be avoided. As they are renally excreted, albeit to different degrees, NOACs should not be prescribed to patients with creatinine clearance of <30 mLs/min. Meticulous consideration of risk versus benefits should be exercised before starting a patient on a NOAC. In patients presenting with bleeding, risk stratification of the severity of bleeding as well as identification of the source of bleeding should be performed. In life-threatening bleeds, recombinant activated factor VIIa and prothrombin complex may be considered although their effectiveness is currently unsupported by firm clinical evidence. The NOACs have varying effect on the prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time which has to be interpreted with caution. Routine monitoring of drug level is not usually required. CONCLUSION: NOACs are an important advancement in antithrombotic management and careful patient selection and monitoring will permit optimisation of their potential and limit bleeding events.

Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Patients Infected with HIV: A Cohort Study.

Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients are at risk of developing thrombosis than general population. There are several intersecting mechanisms associated with HIV infection and antiviral therapy that are emerging, which may lead to vasculopathy and hypercoagulability in these patients. Methods We analyzed the HIV patients who followed up with our Vascular Medicine outpatient clinic with venous thromboembolism (VTE) over the past 3 years and followed them prospectively. The patients included were those who had minimum, regular follow-up of 3 months, with a Doppler scan in the beginning and last follow-up. Patients were analyzed for age, gender, race, site of thrombosis, coagulation factors, lipid panel, type of antiretroviral treatment, past or present history of infections or malignancy, CD4 absolute and helper cell counts at the beginning of thrombosis, response to treatment and outcome. Patients with HIV with arterial thrombosis were excluded. Results A total of eight patients were analyzed. The mean age was 49.87 years (range, 38-58 years). All were male patients with six patients having lower limb thrombosis, one patient with upper limb thrombosis related to peripheral inserted central catheter (PICC), and one patient had pulmonary embolism with no deep vein thrombosis. Most common venous thrombosis was popliteal vein thrombosis, followed by common femoral, superficial femoral and external iliac thrombosis. Two patients had deficiency of protein S, two had high homocysteine levels, one had deficiency of antithrombin 3, and one had increase in anticardiolipin Immunoglobulin antibody. All patients were taking nucleoside and nonnucleoside inhibitors but only two patients were taking protease inhibitors. There was history of lymphoma in one and nonsmall cell lung carcinoma in one patient. Three patients had past history of tuberculosis and one of these patients also had pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. The mean absolute CD4 counts were 383.25 cells/UL (range, 103-908 cells/UL) and helper CD4 counts were 22.5 cells/UL (range, 12-45 cells/UL). All were anticoagulated with warfarin or enoxaparin. There was complete resolution of deep vein thrombosis in two patients (one with PICC line thrombosis in 3 months and other with popliteal vein thrombosis in 1 year). There was extension of clot in one patient and no resolution in others. Seven patients are still alive and on regular follow-up. Conclusion Thrombosis in HIV patients is seen more commonly in middle aged, community ambulant male patients. Left lower limb involvement with involvement of popliteal vein is most common. Deficiency of protein S and hyperhomocystenaemia were noted in these patients. Most of these patients did not respond to therapeutic anticoagulation, but the extension of the thrombosis was prevented in majority of cases.

A Case Series of HIV-Seropositive Patients and Hypercoagulable State-Is It Difficult to Treat Even with Therapeutic Anticoagulation?

Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are at risk of developing thrombosis and are 8 to 10 times more likely to develop thrombosis than the general population. Moreover, if they have hypercoagulable state they can have severe thrombosis and life-threatening thrombotic events. The purpose of this retrospective study is to analyze hypercoagulable state in HIV-seropositive patients who have been diagnosed with venous thromboembolism (VTE). This study is a subgroup study of a larger cohort group of HIV-seropositive patients with VTE followed up with our vascular medicine outpatient clinic. The patients included for this study were HIV-seropositive patients with hypercoagulable state, analyzed over the past 3 years, and followed prospectively. HIV-seropositive patients with arterial thrombosis were excluded. These patients had minimum, regular follow-up of 3 months, with a Doppler scan in the beginning and last follow-up. All the patients were analyzed for hypercoagulable state and the patients selected in this study were those who were tested positive for hypercoagulable state. All patients were analyzed for age, gender, race, site of thrombosis, coagulation factors, lipid panel, type of antiretroviral treatment, past or present history of infections or malignancy, CD4 absolute and helper cell counts at the beginning of thrombosis, and response to treatment and outcome. Patients with HIV with arterial thrombosis were excluded. The study was approved by the ethics committee. Five patients were included in this study. The mean age was 47.8 years (range 38 to 58 years). All were male patients with lower limb thrombosis. Most common venous thrombosis was popliteal vein thrombosis, followed by common femoral, superficial femoral, and external iliac thrombosis. Two patients had deficiency of protein S, two had high homocysteine levels, one had deficiency of antithrombin 3, and one had increase in anticardiolipin immunoglobulin G antibody. All the patients were taking nucleoside and nonnucleoside inhibitors but only one patient was taking protease inhibitors. There was no history of malignancy but two patients had past history of tuberculosis. The mean absolute CD4 counts were 244 cells/UL (range 103 to 392 cells/UL) and helper CD4 counts were 19.6 cells/UL (range 15 to 30 cells/UL). All were anticoagulated with warfarin or enoxaparin. There was complete resolution of deep vein thrombosis only in one patient on long-term anticoagulation but there was no resolution of thrombosis in the other four patients despite of therapeutic anticoagulation for more than 6 months. All the patients are alive and on regular follow-up. Thrombosis in HIV patients is seen more commonly in middle aged, community ambulant male patients. The most common hypercoagulable state was noted as deficiency of protein S and hyperhomocysteinemia. Eighty percent of the patients did not respond to therapeutic anticoagulation.

Should symptomatic, isolated distal deep vein thrombosis be treated with anticoagulation?

BACKGROUND: During the past two decades, the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) has made considerable progress. The term distal or calf vein thrombosis includes thrombosis in infrapopliteal veins, including the posterior tibial, peroneal, anterior tibial and muscular calf veins. The necessity of treating of distal DVT is debatable. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether treatment of isolated, distal DVT with anticoagulation versus no treatment affects patient outcome. METHODS: All patients discharged with a diagnosis of distal DVT from Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007, were identified by the medical records office of the hospital. Compression of the intraluminal thrombus by duplex scan was used to diagnose distal DVT. Excluded were patients who either had both distal and proximal DVT, or had distal DVT along with pulmonary embolism (PE) at presentation. Complete resolution of distal DVT on repeat duplex scan was used to measure the primary outcome. Repeat follow-up scans were performed at two weeks, one month, three months and six months, or on subsequent follow-up until the distal DVT had resolved completely. Secondary outcome measures were complete improvement of symptoms, progression of thrombosis, or PE or death during the follow-up period. The study included 68 patients with distal DVT; however, 17 patients with PE, two of whom had proximal DVT (in the iliac and common femoral veins) at the first presentation along with distal DVT, were excluded from the study. In total, 51 patients were included for analysis. The follow-up scan was available in 35 patients; therefore, the primary analysis was performed in 35 patients (47 incidences of distal DVT). However, the secondary analysis was available in all 51 patients. Of the 35 patients available for follow-up scans, 17 patients (25 incidences of distal DVT) received anticoagulation and 18 patients (22 incidences of distal DVT) received no anticoagulation. Of the 17 patients who were treated with anticoagulation, nine patients (13 incidences of distal DVT) received enoxaparin at a dose of 1 mg/kg twice a day for two weeks and eight patients (12 incidences of distal DVT) received warfarin for a period of three months with initial overlap of enoxaparin 1 mg/kg twice a day for three to five days. Once the prothrombin time international normalized ratio of a patient on warfarin was between 2 and 3, enoxaparin was discontinued. The 18 patients who did not receive anticoagulation received follow-up with regular duplex scan. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences among the groups in the resolution of distal DVT or symptom improvement with or without treatment. In the group that received no treatment, one death occurred. Proximal extension and PE were not recorded in any of the patients. CONCLUSION: Distal DVT may not require treatment with anticoagulation. If leg symptoms worsen, or if there is an extension of distal DVT on the follow-up scan, treatment with anticoagulation is recommended.

Can patients with significant renal artery stenosis who underwent renal angioplasty be monitored postprocedure in the general ward instead of the high dependency unit?

INTRODUCTION: Renal angioplasty has been increasingly used to treat significant renal artery stenosis (RAS). At the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Singapore), renal angioplasty patients are routinely admitted to the high dependency unit (HDU) postprocedure for monitoring. METHODS: The complications of the RAS patients were reviewed postangioplasty, and it was determined whether the patients could be monitored in the general ward (GW) instead of the HDU. Cases of patients with RAS of more than 50% who underwent angioplasty between January 1999 and September 2006 were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: There were 35 patients with significant RAS who underwent angioplasty. Thirty were monitored in the HDU. Five were monitored in the GW because there were no HDU beds available. Patients in the GW were monitored every 30 min for 6 h, then every hour for 24 h. No immediate complications or deaths were recorded in the present series. CONCLUSION: It may be safe and cost-effective to monitor patients with significant RAS postangioplasty in the GW.

Outcome of blood pressure and renal function in patients with renal artery stenosis after stenting.

OBJECTIVE: To study the response of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) and renal function after renal artery stenting at three months, six months, one year and last follow-up. METHODS: Patients with significant renal artery stenosis who underwent angioplasty with stenting from January 1999 to September 2006 were analyzed. The BP and serum creatinine levels were recorded at baseline, three months, six months, one year and at last follow-up. Generalized estimating equations were applied to analyze the changes in blood pressure and serum creatinine over time. RESULTS: There were 32 patients - 21 Chinese, six Malay and five Indian. The male to female ratio was 1.3:1. The mean age (± SD) was 69.4±8.8 years. The mean follow-up time was 1.8±1.6 years (range 0.5 to six years). When compared with the baseline BP, there was significant improvement at three months, six months, one year and at last follow-up. In the diabetes mellitus (DM) group, there was deterioration in serum creatinine. In the non-DM group, there was stabilization of serum creatinine with improvement at one year. CONCLUSION: Significant improvement in BP occurs in renal artery stenosis patients after stenting. In patients without DM, renal function remains stable or improves. However, in DM patients, especially those with proteinuria, there is deterioration in renal function.