Distinct defects in collagen microarchitecture underlie vessel-wall failure in advanced abdominal aneurysms and aneurysms in Marfan syndrome

An aneurysm of the aorta is a common pathology characterized by segmentalweakeningof the artery.Althoughit isgenerally accepted that the vessel-wall weakening is caused by an impaired collagen metabolism, a clear association has been demonstrated only for rare syndromes such as the vascular type Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Here we show that vessel...

Doxycycline therapy for abdominal aneurysm: Improved proteolytic balance through reduced neutrophil content

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is thought to play a central role in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) initiation. Doxycycline, a tetracycline analogue, has direct MMP-9-inhibiting properties in vitro, and it effectively suppresses AAA development in rodents. Observed inhibition of AAA progression, and contradictory findings in...

Ingrowth of aorta vascular cells into basic fibroblast growth factor-impregnated vascular prosthesis material: A porcine and human in vitro study on blood vessel prosthesis healing

Objective: One of the most life-threatening vascular diseases is rupture of an abdominal aneurysm. The conventional treatment is based on surgical reconstruction. An alternative treatment is endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Despite many advantages, one of the problems of EVAR is endoleakage from deficient healing between the aortic neck and...

Patient dosimetry in abdominal arteriography

This study aims at accurate quantification of x-ray exposure and effective dose to the patient in abdominal arteriography. Using an automatic monitoring system, all relevant exposure parameters were determined during 172 abdominal arteriographies. Common projections were extracted for a 'normal' reference group of procedures and used in Monte...

High fibrinolytic activity in the endothelium of the arteries of the rat

The arteries of the rat usually possess considerably higher endothelium-related fibrinolytic activity than corresponding veins. This finding contrasts observations in most other species, including man. The use of the rat in experimental work on thrombotic vascular disease should be evaluated with due regard to the specific properties of the...