News & Events: Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

The Global Vascular Guidelines for the Treatment of Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia (CLTI), an initiative to standardize and improve the quality of care of patients with CLTI worldwide, has been published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS), as a supplement to the June 2019 edition. The global effort was spearheaded by a trio of internationally renowned vascular surgeons who served as co-editors of the publication: Michael S. Conte, M.D., Professor and Chief of the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery at UCSF,  Andrew W. Bradbury, MD of the University of Birmingham, [...]

Marlene Grenon, M.D., C.M., and Greg Zahner, MSc discuss the link between depression and the increased risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD) in a story at Vascular News. Marlene Grenon is an associate professor in the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and Greg J. Zahner is a fourth year medical student at UCSF School of Medicine. The article is entitled, "Depression and Peripheral Artery Disease: The Intersectionality of Mental and Physical Wellbeing". Excerpts appear below followed by a link to the full article, which also contains footnote sources. Psychotherapy and [...]

Dr. Marlene Grenon, a UCSF Vascular Surgeon and Researcher has been invited to present her pioneering work on the relationship between mental health and vascular disease at the upcoming Vascular Annual Meeting for the Society for Vascular Surgery. Her presentation will be highlighted as part of Plenary Session 4 on June 2nd from 8-9:30am in San Diego, CA. Dr. Grenon's research has demonstrated an important link between mental health, peripheral artery disease and outcomes of patients with cardiovascular disorders. Her work also has repercussions on our understanding of best practices of [...]

Michael S. Conte, M.D., Professor and Chief of the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery  and Director of the Conte Lab, has been awarded two grants to develop a prototype medical device that will deliver bioactive lipid mediators to prevent "restenosis", the recurrent narrowing of blood vessels following interventions such as angioplasty, stenting, and bypass surgery. The bioactive compounds are being developed in the Conte Lab.  The first grant, a $200.000 Technology Development Award from the UC Center for Accelerated Innovation, is funded through a combination of grants and [...]

UCSF Magazine reports on the work of researchers using potent compounds, produced naturally from fish oil, to block the inflammation that can reblock arteries opened during stent procedures.  Michael S. Conte, M.D. Chief of the Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery and Director of the Conte Lab, and other researcher are collaborating in this endeavor:  Doctors implant more than a half million stents annually to prop open patients' blocked arteries and restore their blood flow. But often, inflammation triggers a process that reblocks the vessel as the area heals. UC San Francisco [...]

UCSF News reports that U.S. only a small number of nursing home residents are alive and ambulatory one year after undergoing lower extremity revascularization procedures with those still alive gaining little, if any, function: Only a few U.S. nursing home residents who undergo lower extremity revascularization procedures are alive and ambulatory a year after surgery, according to UCSF researchers, and most patients still alive gained little, if any, function. The study appears in the April 6 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. "Our findings can inform conversations among physicians, [...]

Despite substantial research showing that Peripheral artery disease (PAD) puts people at increased risk for heart attack, stroke, amputation and other vascular-related coniditions, PAD remains significantly underdiaganosed and undertreated. "These are very vulnerable patients," says Michael S. Conte, MD,, chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at UCSF Medical Center and one of the country's leading PAD experts. "Most are over 70. Many are diabetics or smokers or both, and have other vascular conditions – and many are asymptomatic. Moreover, the course of the disease in [...]