Treating peripheral arterial disease in patients with diabetes.

Evidence-based symptom relief of intermittent claudication: efficacy and safety of cilostazol.

Randomized comparison of cilostazol versus ticlopidine hydrochloride for antiplatelet therapy after coronary stent implantation for prevention of late restenosis.

Endoscopically placed nasogastrojejunal feeding tubes: a safe route for enteral nutrition in patients with hepatic encephalopathy.

 

Treating peripheral arterial disease in patients with diabetes. Reference: Diabetes Obes Metab 2002;4(S2):S26-31. Diabetes is associated with considerably higher risks of developing peripheral arterial disease (PAD) which, when it occurs, is more severe and progresses more rapidly than in nondiabetics. Early detection of PAD in the diabetic patient is therefore important, but may be complicated by the presence of neuropathy and calcification of the arteries such that ischaemic symptoms are not felt by the patient and ankle pressures are not reduced. Toe pressures are an alternative diagnostic tool in these patients. Good glycaemic control, while an essential part of diabetes management, does not appear to bring more than modest benefits in preventing the peripheral vascular complications of diabetes. Therefore, attention to other risk factors is needed. Treatment with the phosphodiesterase III inhibitor, cilostazol, has been shown to improve walking distances significantly in diabetes patients with intermittent claudication and also appears to improve plasma lipid profiles. Further, cilostazol has an antiplatelet action, which may prove to be of benefit in diabetes because hyperglycaemia is associated with increased platelet aggregability. Revascularization in diabetes patients with critical leg ischaemia is complex and associated with poorer outcomes than in non-diabetes patients. While surgical revascularization has better patency rates, in patients at high risk of surgical complications, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty may be a better option. Evidence-based symptom relief of intermittent claudication: efficacy and safety of cilostazol. Reference: Diabetes Obes Metab 2002;4(S2):S20-5. Intermittent claudication (IC) is a common, debilitating symptom of atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease. There are two therapeutic objectives in patients with IC: relief of symptoms and secondary prevention of acute thrombotic complications. Among patients with Fontaine stage II disease, surgical revascularization for symptom relief is reserved for those in whom exercise/lifestyle modification and medical therapy has failed. To improve exercise tolerance in IC requires favourable alteration in the oxygen supply/demand relationship in the lower limb. Following the largest ever clinical trials programme in patients with IC, cilostazol, a phosophodiesterase III inhibitor, has been licensed for symptom relief in the UK. In double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials involving over 2000 patients, cilostazol 100 mg b.d. produced significant and sustained improvements in pain-free and maximal walking distances as well as improved subjective assessments of quality of life. In particular, comparative studies with pentoxifylline (oxpentifylline) showed that cilostazol had significantly greater effects on functional outcome and exhibited good patient tolerance. Randomized comparison of cilostazol versus ticlopidine hydrochloride for antiplatelet therapy after coronary stent implantation for prevention of late restenosis. Reference: Am Heart J 2002;144(2):303-8. BACKGROUND: Cilostazol is a newly developed antiplatelet drug that has been widely applied for clinical use. Its antiplatelet action appears to be mainly related to inhibition of intracellular phosphodiesterase activity. Recently, cilostazol has been used for antiplatelet therapy after coronary stent implantation. However, its evaluation has not been established yet. METHODS: This prospective randomized trial was designed to investigate the efficacy of cilostazol for the prevention of late restenosis and acute or subacute stent thrombosis in comparison with ticlopidine hydrochloride. One hundred thirty consecutive patients, scheduled for elective coronary stenting, were randomly assigned to receive oral aspirin (81 mg/day) plus ticlopidine hydrochloride therapy (200 mg/day; group I) or aspirin plus cilostazol therapy (200 mg/day; group II). These medications were started at least 2 days before coronary intervention and continued until follow-up coronary angiography was performed 6 months later. RESULTS: Subacute stent thrombosis was observed in 2 patients of group I but in no patients of group II. Major cardiac events were similarly present in both groups. Elevated transaminase levels were observed more frequently in group I than in group II (P <.05). Each of the quantitative coronary angiography variables before and immediately after coronary stenting were similar in both groups. At follow-up angiography, however, late lumen loss (0.69 +/- 0.79 mm vs 0.28 +/- 0.40 mm; P <.01) and loss index (0.42 +/- 0.56 vs 0.16 +/- 0.27; P <.01) were smaller in group II than in group I. Restenosis rate (13% vs 31%; P <.05) and target lesion revascularization rate (7% vs 21%; P <.05) were both lower in group II than in group I. CONCLUSION: Aspirin plus cilostazol therapy may be an effective regimen for prevention of not only stent thrombosis but also restenosis. Endoscopically placed nasogastrojejunal feeding tubes: a safe route for enteral nutrition in patients with hepatic encephalopathy. Reference: Am Surgery 2002;68(2):196-200. Patients with hepatic encephalopathy are at particular risk for aspiration when given oral or gastric feedings. An ideal strategy might combine distal enteral feeding with proximal gastric decompression, which is offered by a nasogastrojejunal (NGJ) feeding tube. One objective was to determine the efficacy and safety of endoscopically placed NGJ feeding tubes in patients with hepatic encephalopathy. Charts of patients who underwent NGJ tube placements between April 1997 and January 2000 were retrospectively reviewed. Two endoscopic techniques ("push" and "pull") were used. Eighteen patients (nine male and nine female) underwent 32 procedures. Twelve patients had undergone liver transplantation, four had decompensated cirrhosis, and two had fulminant hepatic failure. Twenty procedures used the push technique and 12 required the pull technique. The insertion time was shorter for the push technique compared with the pull technique (21.8 vs 39.6 min, P < 0.05). Enteral feedings were begun at an average of 5.2 hours after tube placement. The tubes remained in place for an average of 13.9 days. Complications related to the NGJ tubes included self-removal in eight, tube clogging in five, proximal migration in four, and intraduodenal migration of the gastric port in one. No aspiration episodes occurred. We conclude that NGJ feeding tubes may be placed endoscopically as a bedside procedure for patients with hepatic encephalopathy and provide a safe, efficacious, and rapid route for enteral nutrition in these patients.