CRITICAL LIMB ISCHAEMIA WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON EPIDEMIOLOGY, INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND CARDIAC FUNCTION

Abstract: In Conclusion Paper I. In patients undergoing aorto-iliac angiography, no effects of the procedure were seen upon inflammatory mediators. On the other hand, angiography influenced markers of platelet activation in these patients. Paper II. The incidence of CLI in southern Sweden is 38/100 000 subjects/year. Both medical risk factors for atherosclerosis and concomitant cardiovascular disease are common among patients with CLI. Furthermore, medical risk-factor treatment in these high-risk patients is suboptimal in relation to current recommendations. Patients with CLI need to be evaluated and treated by physicians with knowledge of and interest for treatment of risk factors for atherosclerosis. Papers III-IV. Of Swedish CLI patients, 24 % die during the first year after hospitalisation. Inflammatory markers, especially neopterin and TNF-?, independently predict 1-year mortality in CLI, and are related to indices of cardiac dysfunction. Paper V. Diabetes in CLI is often combined with renal impairment and more often with infra-inguinal atherosclerosis. The inflammatory markers TNF-? and neopterin are increased in diabetic patients with CLI as compared to non-diabetic patients with CLI.