37 research outputs found
Microvasculature and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Childhood
__Abstract__
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality, morbidity and hospitalization
worldwide, and is a major public health problem in adult populations. The developmentalâ
origins hypothesis suggests that cardiovascular disease might originate from
early life. Adverse exposures, acting in different periods of fetal and early postnatal life
might lead to permanent adaptations in the cardiovascular system, which are beneficial
for short term survival, but increase the susceptibility of cardiovascular disease in later
life. This hypothesis is supported by experimental studies in animals showing that
growth restriction in early life leads to developmental adaptations in cardiovascular
structure and function, which leads to an increase in vulnerability to cardiovascular
disease.
In line with this hypothesis, large observational studies in humans have shown that
fetal growth restriction and rapid infant growth are associated with cardiac and vascular
changes in childhood and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood.
Also, observational studies using more detailed adverse exposures during fetal life suggested
that, among other maternal factors, higher maternal blood pressure during
pregnancy and the presence of gestational hypertensive disorders are associated with
increased risks of fetal growth restriction and a higher blood pressure in childhood.
Postnatally, suboptimal infant nutrition and increased adiposity levels throughout childhood
are also shown to be associated with the development of cardiovascular disease in
later life. Thus, previous research suggests that a restricted nutritional in utero environment
and abundant postnatal environment may lead to cardiovascular disease in
later life.
The mechanisms relating adverse maternal, fetal and infant factors with an increased
risk of cardiovascular diseases in later life are not fully understood. Early microvasculature
adaptations, in response to adverse exposures in early life, might be part of the
underlying mechanisms in the development of cardiovascular disease. Animal studies
have shown that alterations in the microvascular structure and, hence, increased peripheral
resistance, precede the development of hypertension. In humans, the microvasculature
can nonâinvasively be assessed by using retinal vascular imaging. Several
longitudinal studies among adults have shown that retinal arteriolar narrowing, likely
indicative of increased peripheral vascular resistance, is associated with increased risks
of hypertension and stroke in later life, whereas wider retinal venular caliber is associated
with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome and inflammation. Thus, these
studies suggest that alterations in retinal vessel calibers can be used as early markers of
cardioâmetabolic disease risk.
In summary, cardiovascular disease might already originate in early life. Identifying
risk factors and potential mechanisms influencing the development of cardiovascular
diseases from early life onwards, is important for future preventive strategies that aim
to improve cardiovascular health throughout the life course. Therefore, studies presented
in this thesis were designed to identify maternal, fetal and infant factors associated
with microvasculature alterations and cardiovascular healt
Body mass index, gestational weight gain and fatty acid concentrations during pregnancy: the Generation R Study
Symptoms related to posterior vitreous detachment and the risk of developing retinal tears: a systematic review
Symptoms related to posterior vitreous detachment and the risk of developing retinal tears: a systematic review
Body fat distribution, metabolic and inflammatory markers and retinal microvasculature in school-age children. The Generation R Study
Infant weight growth velocity patterns and general and abdominal adiposity in school-age children. The Generation R Study
Efficacy and safety of current treatment options for peripheral retinal haemangioblastomas: a systematic review
Importance: Approximately twenty per cent of Von HippelâLindau patients with retinal haemangioblastomas (RH) suffer from visual impairment. Various treatment options are available for peripheral RH. However, management of peripheral RH is complex due to multifocality and bilaterality. Objective: To summarize published evidence on efficacy and safety of different interventions for peripheral RH and to provide treatment recommendations for specialists. Evidence review: Comprehensive searches were performed using Medline, Embase, Web of Science and Google Scholar database on 4 March 2020. English publications that described outcomes related to efficacy or complications in at least two patients with peripheral RH were included. Efficacy and safety were estimated by complete tumour eradication rate, pretherapeutic and treatment-related complication rate. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to calculate the risk estimate of complications between treatment options. Findings: Twenty-seven articles were included in this review describing nine different treatment options for peripheral RH: laser photocoagulation (n = 230), cryotherapy (n = 50), plaque radiotherapy (n = 27), vitreoretinal surgery (n = 88), photodynamic therapy (PDT; n = 14), transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT; n = 10), external beam radiotherapy (n = 3), systemic treatment (n = 7) and intravitreal anti-VEGF (n = 2). Complete tumour eradication was achieved in 86.7% (95% CI: 83.5â89.9%) of all eyes. For the different treatments, this was after laser photocoagulation 89.9% (86.1â93.7%), cryotherapy 70.2% (57.0â83.4%), plaque radiotherapy 96.3% (89.1â100.0%), vitreoretinal surgery (100.0%), PDT 64.3% (38.3â90.3%) and TTT 80.0% (53.8â100.0%). No complete tumour eradication was achieved after systemic therapy, external beam radiotherapy or intravitreal anti-VEGF. Photodynamic therapy and vitreoretinal surgery showed the highest complication rate after treatment compared to the other treatments (OR 10.5 [95% CI: 2.9â38.4]) and (OR 5.9 [95% CI: 3.4â9.9]), respectively. Cases that had pretherapeutic complications showed a higher treatment-related complication rate (OR 14.8 [95% CI: 7.3â30.0]) than cases without complications before treatment. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that laser photocoagulation is the safest and most effective treatment method for peripheral RH up to 1.5 mm in diameter. Vitreoretinal surgery has the highest success rate for complete tumour eradication and may be the most suitable treatment option in the presence of pretherapeutic complications and for larger tumours