Hamburg, Naomi M.

Abstract BACKGROUND The purpose of this document is to provide clinicians with guidance, using expert consensus, to help summarize evidence and offer practical recommendations. METHODS Expert Consensus Documents are intended to provide guidance for clinicians in areas in which there are no clinical practice guidelines, especially for new and evolving tests such as arterial stiffness measurements, until any formal guidelines are released. RESULTS This expert consensus document is intended as a source of information for decision-making and to guide clinician–patient discussions in various clinical scenarios. CONCLUSIONS The goal is to help clinicians and patients make a more informed decision together.

Diagnostic criteria to classify severity of internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis vary across vascular laboratories. Consensus-based criteria, proposed by the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound in 2003 (SRUCC), have been broadly implemented but have not been adequately validated. We conducted a multicentered, retrospective correlative imaging study of duplex ultrasound versus catheter angiography for evaluation of severity of ICA stenosis. Velocity data were abstracted from bilateral duplex studies performed between 1/1/2009 and 12/31/2015 and studies were interpreted using SRUCC. Percentage ICA stenosis was determined using North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET) methodology. Receiver operating characteristic analysis evaluated the performance of SRUCC parameters compared with angiography. Of 448 ICA sides (from 224 patients), 299 ICA sides (from 167 patients) were included. Agreement between duplex ultrasound and angiography was moderate (κ = 0.42), with overestimation of degree of stenosis for both moderate (50–69%) and severe (⩾ 70%) ICA lesions. The primary SRUCC parameter for ⩾ 50% ICA stenosis of peak-systolic velocity (PSV) of ⩾ 125 cm/sec did not meet prespecified thresholds for adequate sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (sensitivity 97.8%, specificity 64.2%, accuracy 74.5%). Test performance was improved by raising the PSV threshold to ⩾ 180 cm/sec (sensitivity 93.3%, specificity 81.6%, accuracy 85.2%) or by adding the additional parameter of ICA/common carotid artery (CCA) PSV ratio ⩾ 2.0 (sensitivity 94.3%, specificity 84.3%, accuracy 87.4%). For ⩾ 70% ICA stenosis, analysis was limited by a low number of cases with angiographically severe disease. Interpretation of carotid duplex examinations using SRUCC resulted in significant overestimation of severity of ICA stenosis when compared with angiography; raising the PSV threshold for ⩾ 50% ICA stenosis to ⩾ 180 cm/sec as a single parameter or requiring the ICA/CCA PSV ratio ⩾ 2.0 in addition to PSV of ⩾ 125 cm/sec for laboratories using the SRUCC is recommended to improve the accuracy of carotid duplex examinations.

AbstractCOVID-19 is also manifested with hypercoagulability, pulmonary intravascular coagulation, microangiopathy, and venous thromboembolism (VTE) or arterial thrombosis. Predisposing risk factors to severe COVID-19 are male sex, underlying cardiovascular disease, or cardiovascular risk factors including noncontrolled diabetes mellitus or arterial hypertension, obesity, and advanced age. The VAS-European Independent Foundation in Angiology/Vascular Medicine draws attention to patients with vascular disease (VD) and presents an integral strategy for the management of patients with VD or cardiovascular risk factors (VD-CVR) and COVID-19. VAS recommends (1) a COVID-19-oriented primary health care network for patients with VD-CVR for identification of patients with VD-CVR in the community and patients' education for disease symptoms, use of eHealth technology, adherence to the antithrombotic and vascular regulating treatments, and (2) close medical follow-up for efficacious control of VD progression and prompt application of physical and social distancing measures in case of new epidemic waves. For patients with VD-CVR who receive home treatment for COVID-19, VAS recommends assessment for (1) disease worsening risk and prioritized hospitalization of those at high risk and (2) VTE risk assessment and thromboprophylaxis with rivaroxaban, betrixaban, or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for those at high risk. For hospitalized patients with VD-CVR and COVID-19, VAS recommends (1) routine thromboprophylaxis with weight-adjusted intermediate doses of LMWH (unless contraindication); (2) LMWH as the drug of choice over unfractionated heparin or direct oral anticoagulants for the treatment of VTE or hypercoagulability; (3) careful evaluation of the risk for disease worsening and prompt application of targeted antiviral or convalescence treatments; (4) monitoring of D-dimer for optimization of the antithrombotic treatment; and (5) evaluation of the risk of VTE before hospital discharge using the IMPROVE-D-dimer score and prolonged post-discharge thromboprophylaxis with rivaroxaban, betrixaban, or LMWH.