Elevated EMMPRIN Serum Levels Indicate Plaque Vulnerability in Patients With Asymptomatic High Grade Carotid Stenosis

OBJECTIVE

Carotid atherosclerosis is an important cause of cerebral ischaemic stroke. Sonographic plaque characteristics are inappropriate for exact prediction of possible future ischaemic events. Additional markers are needed to predict the clinical outcome in high grade carotid stenosis. This study aimed to test extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN), due to its involvement in plaque formation and destabilisation, as a potential marker of high risk vulnerable plaques.

METHODS

EMMPRIN was analysed in pre-operative serum samples from patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis by a specific ELISA. Pre-operative duplex sonography classified the atherosclerotic plaque due to echogenicity. Histopathological analysis of vulnerable and non-vulnerable plaques was based on the American Heart Association (AHA) classification.

RESULTS

The study included 265 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy: 90 (m:f, 69:21) patients with symptomatic and 175 (m:f, 118:57) with asymptomatic disease. Analysis of circulating EMMPRIN revealed significantly higher levels in patients with echolucent plaques (4 480; IQR 3 745, 6 144 pg/mL) compared with echogenic plaques (4 159; IQR 3 418, 5 402 pg/mL; p = .025). Asymptomatic patients with vulnerable plaques had significantly higher levels of EMMPRIN (4 875; IQR 3 850, 7 016 pg/mL) compared with non-vulnerable plaques (4 109; IQR 3 433, 5 402 pg/mL; p < .001). In logistic regression analysis, duplex sonography combined with age, gender, and clinical risk factors predicted vulnerable plaques in asymptomatic patients with an AUC of 0.71 (95% CI 0.61 - 0.80). EMMPRIN significantly improved the AUC in asymptomatic patients (AUC 0.79; 95% CI 0.71 - 0.87; p = .014).

CONCLUSION

Patients with high risk plaques according to ultrasound and histopathological characteristics demonstrated increased serum EMMPRIN levels. EMMPRIN on top of clinical risk factors, including age, gender, and duplex sonography may be used for pre-operative risk stratification in asymptomatic patients.

Concomitantly discovered visceral artery aneurysms do rarely grow during cancer therapy

Visceral artery aneurysms (VAA) are a rare entity of arterial aneurysms with the imminent threat of rupture. The impact of cancer and chemotherapy on the growth of VAAs is unknown. A retrospective dual center cohort study of patients with concomitant VAA and different types of cancer was conducted and the impact of various chemotherapeutic agents on VAA growth was studied by sequential CT analysis. For comparison, a non-cancer all comer cohort with VAAs and no cancer was studied to compare different growth rates. The primary endpoint was aneurysm progress or regression >1.75 mm. Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical comparison. In the 17-year-period from January 2003 to March 2020, 59 patients with 30 splenic artery aneurysms, 14 celiac trunk aneurysms, 11 renal artery aneurysms and 4 other VAA and additional malignancy were identified. 20% of patients suffered from prostate cancer, the rest were heterogeneous. The most prevalent chemotherapies were alkylating agents (23%), antimetabolites (14%) and mitose inhibitors (10%). Eight patients had relevant growth of their VAA and one patient showed diameter regression (average growth rate 0.1 ± 0.5 mm/year). Twenty-nine patients with 14 splenic, 11 RAAs (seven right) and 4 celiac trunk aneurysms were available in the non-cancer comparison cohort (average growth rate 0.5 ± 0.9 mm/year, p = 0.058). However, the growth rate of patients receiving operative treatment for relevant VAA growth was significantly higher (p = 0.004). VAAs grow rarely, and rather slow. Cancer and/or chemotherapy do not significantly influence the annual growth rate. Additional control examinations seem unnecessary.

Long-term outcomes after endothoracic sympathetic block at the T4 ganglion for upper limb hyperhidrosis

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term results, quality of life, satisfaction and compensatory sweating after endothoracic sympathetic block at T4 (ESB4).

METHODS

Patients who underwent an ESB4 procedure for palmar or palmoaxillary hyperhidrosis between 2001 and 2008 were included in a prospective study at a university hospital. Questionnaires devised by Keller and Milanez de Campos were applied to evaluate disease-specific quality of life.

RESULTS

A total of 189 patients underwent 374 ESB4 procedures. Of 174 evaluated patients, 54 (31·0 per cent) had palmar and 120 (69·0 per cent) had palmoaxillary hyperhidrosis. Median follow-up was 92 months. In both groups, treatment successfully reduced hyperhidrosis (P < 0·001) and quality of life increased significantly after ESB4 (P < 0·001), remaining stable after 5 years. Overall satisfaction rates decreased owing to the development of compensatory sweating and recurrence during follow-up. Compensatory sweating affected 41 patients (23·6 per cent), and was severe in 11 (6·7 per cent) of 163 patients at 5-year follow-up; eight of these 11 patients had been treated for palmoaxillary sweating. The severity of compensatory sweating did not deteriorate with time. The severe recurrence rate increased to 11·0 per cent during follow-up, and was twice as common in patients treated for palmoaxillary sweating as in those treated for palmar sweating (13·2 versus 6·1 per cent respectively). Nine reoperations (5·2 per cent) were performed for persistent sweating, recurrence or compensatory sweating.

CONCLUSION

T4 endothoracic sympathetic clip application is safe and effective in patients with upper limb hyperhidrosis, with stable long-term improvements in quality of life.