Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is a disease of arteries. It is a systemic condition- FMD can affect most all arteries of the body, although some are affected more often than others (i.e. renal and carotid arteries). While FMD was first described in the 1930’s, much is still unknown about this condition. Thus, when reading these paragraphs,…
Carotid stenting is commonly being used to treat atherosclerotic and other blockages of the carotid artery. Carotid stenting is used to treat people who have had a stroke or a transient ischemic attack or those with high-grade blockages that are deemed at high risk for such events. The carotid body (also known as the carotid…
Intravenous catheters (IV lines) are part of everyday modern medicine. Uses for IV lines include giving medication and fluids. They can also be used to draw blood for various laboratory examinations. Over the years IV lines have come a long way. Instead of the former metal large bore needles used in the past to establish…
A stent is a spring like apparatus that is implanted inside blood vessels using a special catheter. Stents are meant to help open blood vessel narrowing and obstructions. Stent Types Since their invention, stents have come a long way. Stents have originally been made of special metal compounds that expand inside blood vessels and gradually…
A stroke refers to the acute death of brain tissue due to blockage of blood supply or bleeding that presses and destroys adjacent tissue. Another name for these events is cerebrovascular accident, or CVA. A CVA should be differentiated from a transient ischemic attack, a TIA. Types of stroke In general terms, stroke can be…
An aneurysm is an abnormal dilatation of a blood vessel that involves all three layers of the vessel wall (intima, media and adventitia). An aortic aneurysm is such a dilatation of the aorta and it is the most common form of aneurysm. The prevalence of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is 8% in persons over 65,…
An aneurysm is an abnormal dilatation in the wall of any blood vessel, be it artery or vein. Aneurysms can be found in every artery in the body, however the most common aneurysm is in the abdominal aorta. Another important specific type of artery aneurysm is in the brain – cerebral aneurysms (or berry aneurysms)…
Varicose veins are enlarged, swollen veins. They have saccular, dilated and torturous. For some people this is just a “cosmetic problem”. For others, the veins are a source of pain, leg swelling and disability. Epidemiology Varicose veins are common. In many nation wide surveys around the world it has consistently been found that the annual…
An artery dissection is a tear in the artery wall. But, it is important to understand that it is not a complete tear. A dissection is not a rupture. Artery walls are built of layers. When blood cuts (or dissects) through these layers, we call it “arterial dissection”. Worst Outcomes of an Artery Dissection The…
Carotid dissection exposes tissue factor in the artery wall. This can result in local thrombosis and in stroke (or amaurosis fugax). The goal of therapy is to prevent this thrombotic event. Therefore, medication for carotid dissection can include anticoagulation or an antiplatelet agent. A study conducted in Switzerland and published in Neurology in 2009 examined…
