Tag Archives: vascular surgery

Introduction Vascular disease is a systemic disorder, with 50–60% of patients undergoing peripheral vascular procedures having co-existent severe coronary artery disease and only 10% having normal coronary arteries.1,2 It is unsurprising, therefore, that vascular surgery is associated with a substantial risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and death.2,3 Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a contractile protein that is released into the circulation after myocardial cell injury. Unlike other cardiac-related enzymes, cTnI is not found in skeletal muscle and is therefore a highly sensitive and specific marker of myocardial necrosis,4,5 a

GISSI-HF shows benefit for PUFA in heart failure Two new studies from the Italian GISSI group show that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) supplementation improves morbidity and mortality in those with symptomatic heart failure, but statins don’t have any benefit in the same type of patients. The results were presented during a hotline session at the Congress and published simultaneously in The Lancet (Lancet 2008; DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736[08]61239-8, and Lancet 2008;DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736[08]61240-4). Long-term administration of PUFA reduced all-cause mortality by 9%, which the investigators say was a modest effect, and they also cut