This chapter focuses on the role of patient history and physical examination in evaluating the various disease states secondary to arterial pathology. In general, the lower extremities provide a model for the clinical evaluation of patients with vascular disease and…
Introduction The cost of medical care is far greater in the United States of America than in similar developed nations, while other data indicate the health outcomes in the United States lag. These observations have shifted the focus of heath…
The 21st century has ushered in a number of changes in the distribution of vascular disease worldwide, primarily due to demographic changes and trends in atherosclerotic risk factors. These global trends require concerted efforts at the patient, provider, and public…
Atherosclerotic disease is the leading cause of mortality in developed countries. Better understanding of the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis has led to successful therapies and preventative strategies; however, treatment of conventional risk factors for atherosclerotic disease may only prevent 50% of…
Atherosclerosis is a disease in which plaque builds up inside of the artery wall, causing the thickening and narrowing of arteries, thereby reducing blood supply to the end organs. Plaque is made up of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products…
Hypertension is a key risk factor in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) including peripheral artery disease (PAD). Available evidence related to PAD and hypertension is largely extrapolated from subgroup analyses of larger trials of…
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in industrialized countries and accounts for over 31% of deaths globally. Over the last century, a multitude of discoveries and intense research have elucidated the mechanisms of atherosclerosis, a word derived from…
Diabetes is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia resulting either from a lack of insulin production (type 1) or from insulin resistance (type 2). In the past several decades an alarming rise in the global prevalence of diabetes has been seen. The…
Called “one of the greatest public health catastrophes” of the 20th century in the Surgeon General’s semicentennial report, smoking has had profound health consequences that continue to be felt even as its North American prevalence decreases. For vascular surgeons in…
In a narrow sense, the lymph circulation is a unidirectional vascular system that merely transports surplus tissue fluid back to the bloodstream. In a broader sense, however, this network stabilizes the mobile intercellular liquid and extracellular matrix microenvironment to ensure…