Adverse reactions to statins may be more common than previously reported, and they may be affected by specific patient and disease characteristics.

Cancer and its treatment are recognized risk factors for VTE. Compliance rate with published VTE prophylaxis guidelines is low. Decision on when to offer prophylaxis for hospitalized cancer patients is difficult to make. This paper describes current clinical practice in offering VTE prophylaxis to hospitalized cancer patients. Prophylaxis rate and rate of VTE will be correlated with the risk level. We prospectively followed all consecutive adult cancer patients admitted to medical units over a 5-month period. Caprini risk assessment model, with some modifications, was utilized to determine risk of VTE. Six hundred and six patients (51% males, median age 52 years, range 18-91) were included. Reasons for admission included infections (25%), chemotherapy (22%) and palliative care (10%). In addition to cancer, the most frequently encountered risk factors for VTE were: Immobilization (35%), age > 60 years (31%) and body mass index > 30 in (20%). Patients were grouped according to their total risk score: low (9%), moderate (44%) and high risk (47%). VTE prophylaxis rate was 55.1% for the whole study group. Following discharge, patients were followed for 60 days. The incidence of VTE was 3.4% in the moderate and 4.2% in the high risk groups, while none in the low risk group developed VTE. Many additional risk factors for VTE are usually encountered in hospitalized cancer patients. Cancer alone may not be an enough reason for VTE prophylaxis. Risk assessment model able to stratify patients into different risk categories will simplify decision making and enhance VTE prophylaxis rate.

Calcified plaque is heterogeneously distributed in CEA tissues with most in the bulb and IES regions. The amount of calcification in micro-CT slices shows a high correlation with matched histology sections.

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In patients with simple SFA disease, transradial recanalization appears feasible and safe but currently limited to balloon angioplasty ± orbital atherectomy. Proximal SFA stenting may be feasible in patients <160 cm in height.

Background: Sustained positive outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) requires risk factor modification and secondary prevention medications. Much attention has been focused on planning at hospital discharge; however longer-term patient compliance is not well described. Hypothesis: A follow-up multidisciplinary educational program improves disease understanding, motivation to reduce cardiovascular risk, and secondary prevention medication prescribing following hospital discharge. Methods: Using a prospective, randomized, controlled design, patients undergoing CABG completed surveys over a year period, assessing disease understanding and motivation. Four to six weeks after CABG, intervention subjects completed a one-time educational program with a multidisciplinary team. The primary endpoint was a composite score of reduced risk factors, medication use, and awareness of prescribed medications. Secondary endpoints evaluated survey scores and medication use rates. Wilcoxon Rank Sum and Chi Square tests compared data between specific time points. Generalized estimating equations and linear contrasts of the parameter estimates compared data at the three time points. Results: The final analysis included 98 subjects (Intervention = 49, Control = 49). The composite score was not different between groups (I = 12.8 ± 4.5 points, C = 12.7 ± 4.9 points, p = 0.9405). Improvements were noted in understanding and motivation in the entire cohort, but these changes were not influenced by the intervention. Medication prescribing declined at 3 and 12 months after CABG without significant differences between the groups. Conclusions: Disease understanding, motivation to reduce risk, and medication use are robust at hospital discharge but the latter declines with time and was not improved by our intervention. These findings are concerning and warrant further study

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