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Worldwide, in 2010, 202 million people were living with PAD, with a prevalence between 3-12 percent. The prevalence of PAD is three times greater in diabetic patients compared to those with normal glycaemia. PAD of the limbs is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, as well as major adverse limb events including acute limb ischemia and amputation. These risks are particularly high in patients who smoke and/or have type 2 diabetes. The goal of treatment in diabetic patients with PAD is to prevent cardiovascular events and prevent further peripheral artery stenosis leading to limb ischemia, and amputation. Poor glycemic control contributes to atherosclerotic progression; however, no randomized control trial evidence exists that demonstrates improved glycemic control reduces the risk of PAD. Oral diabetic medications are designed to lower glucose levels, reduce symptoms and the microvascular complications of diabetes without the inconvenience of daily injections. However, the data supporting benefit of these medications in diabetic populations with concurrent PAD are limited. We review the evidence for oral hypoglycemic agents in the treatment of patients with concurrent PAD and diabetes.

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) are at high risk for ischemic cardiovascular complications. While single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT), predominantly aspirin, has long been the standard antithrombotic treatment in stable PAD, there have now been greater than 40,000 PAD patients randomized to varying antiplatelet and/or anticoagulant regimens. In this review, we provide a summary of the current evidence for antithrombotics in stable PAD, focusing on the rates of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), major adverse limb events (MALE), and major bleeding. SAPT has a limited role in the treatment of asymptomatic PAD, particularly in the absence of concomitant coronary artery disease. In symptomatic PAD, SAPT is effective in preventing MACE, though treatment with a thienopyridine appears marginally superior to aspirin. Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) suggests benefit over SAPT in reducing MACE and MALE, though studies to date are not conclusive and/or are associated with excess major bleeding. Combining moderate to high intensity vitamin K antagonists with antiplatelet therapy does not reduce MACE or MALE and increases life-threatening bleeding. Rivaroxaban 2.5 mg BID in addition to aspirin reduces the incidence of both MACE and MALE as compared to aspirin alone, without increasing life-threatening bleeding. This regimen is associated with a reduced severity of MALE when it does occur. Comparisons across antithrombotic trials in PAD are challenging given the heterogeneity of patient populations and the differing assessment of outcomes. The vascular medicine practitioner can reduce ischemic cardiac and limb events, as well as minimize life-threatening bleeding, by choosing the optimal antithrombotic regimen in their PAD patients.

Pulmonary artery aneurysm (PAA) is a rare complication of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), often occurring in patients with long-standing disease. Complications of PAA include pulmona...

Diabetes confers greater cardiovascular risk to women than to men. Whether insulin-resistance-mediated risk extends to the healthy population is unknown. Measures of insulin resistance (fasting insulin, homeostatic model assessment, hemoglobin A1c, quantitative insulin sensitivity check index, glucose) were determined in 48 (56% female) healthy subjects. Heart rate variability (HRV) was calculated by spectral power analysis and arterial stiffness was determined using noninvasive applanation tonometry. Both were measured at baseline and in response to angiotensin II infusion. In women, there was a non-statistically significant trend towards increasing insulin resistance being associated with an overall unfavourable HRV response and increased arterial stiffness to the stressor, while men demonstrated the opposite response. Significant differences in the associations between insulin resistance and cardiovascular physiological profile exist between healthy women and men. Further studies investigating the sex differences in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance in cardiovascular disease are warranted.

Context Teaching effectiveness ratings (TERs) are used to provide feedback to teachers on their performance and to guide decisions on academic promotion. However, exactly how raters make decisions on teaching effectiveness is unclear. Objectives The objectives of this study were to identify variables that medical students appraise when rating the effectiveness of a classroom teacher, and to explore whether the relationships among these variables and TERs are modified by the physical attractiveness of the teacher. Methods We asked 48 Year 1 medical students to listen to 2-minute audio clips of 10 teachers and to describe their impressions of these teachers and rate their teaching effectiveness. During each clip, we displayed either an attractive or an unattractive photograph of an unrelated third party. We used qualitative analysis followed by factor analysis to identify the principal components of teaching effectiveness, and multiple linear regression to study the associations among these components, type of photograph displayed, and TER. Results We identified two principal components of teaching effectiveness: charisma and intellect. There was no association between rating of intellect and TER. Rating of charisma and the display of an attractive photograph were both positively associated with TER and a significant interaction between these two variables was apparent (p

Background and Objective: Little is known about the utility of physical examination (PE) findings in patients with suspected pulmonary hypertension (PH) in the modern era. We aimed to determine the diagnostic utility of commonly referenced PE findings for PH when compared to the gold standard, right heart catheterization (RHC) Methods: Sequential patients undergoing RHC at the PH clinic in Calgary, Canada were prospectively enrolled and examined by a respirologist within 60 minutes of RHC. Examiners were blinded to indication and diagnosis. Examiners determined presence or absence of: high jugular venous pressure (JVP)>3cm, palpable P2, parasternal heave, abdominal-jugular reflex (AJR), loud P2, P2 louder than A2 (P2>A2), right-sided S3, and extra-physiologic splitting of S2. PE findings were compared to RHC to determine the sensitivity (Sn), specificity (Sp), positive (+LR) and negative likelihood ratio (-LR) values for identifying PH (mPAP≥25mmHg). Results: 105 patients were enrolled. 66% were female with a median age of 61 (Interquartile Range 28-85). 13 patients (12%) did not have PH (mPAP

Most training programs use learners’ subjective ratings of their teachers as the primary measure of teaching effectiveness. In a recent study we found that preclinical medical students’ ratings of classroom teachers were associated with perceived charisma and physical attractiveness of the teacher, but not intellect. Here we explored whether the relationship between these variables and teaching effectiveness ratings holds in the clinical setting. We asked 27 Internal Medicine residents to rate teaching effectiveness of ten teachers with whom they had worked on a clinical rotation, in addition to rating each teacher’s clinical skills, physical attractiveness, and charisma. We used linear regression to study the association between these explanatory variables and teaching effectiveness ratings. We found no association between rating of physical attractiveness and teaching effectiveness. Clinical skill and charisma were independently associated with rating of teaching effectiveness (regression coefficients [95 % confidence interval] 0.73 [0.60, 0.85], p