Factors Associated With Medication Adherence in Vascular Surgery Patients

Comprehensive review of virtual assistants in vascular surgery

Virtual assistants, broadly defined as digital services designed to simulate human conversation and provide personalized responses based on user input, have the potential to improve health care by supporting clinicians and patients in terms of diagnosing and managing disease, performing administrative tasks, and supporting medical research and education. These tasks are particularly helpful in vascular surgery, where the clinical and administrative burden is high due to the rising incidence of vascular disease, the medical complexity of the patients, and the potential for innovation and care advancement. The rapid development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing techniques have facilitated the training of large language models, such as GPT-4 (OpenAI), which can support the development of increasingly powerful virtual assistants. These tools may support holistic, multidisciplinary, and high-quality vascular care delivery throughout the pre-, intra-, and postoperative stages. Importantly, it is critical to consider the design, safety, and challenges related to virtual assistants, including data security, ethical, and equity concerns. By combining the perspectives of patients, clinicians, data scientists, and other stakeholders when developing, implementing, and monitoring virtual assistants, there is potential to harness the power of this technology to care for vascular surgery patients more effectively. In this comprehensive review article, we introduce the concept of virtual assistants, describe potential applications of virtual assistants in vascular surgery for clinicians and patients, highlight the benefits and drawbacks of large language models, such as GPT-4, and discuss considerations around the design, safety, and challenges associated with virtual assistants in vascular surgery.

Prognostic impact of optimal lifestyle advice and medical therapy in patients with peripheral arterial disease

Background: Secondary prevention remains under-implemented in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). In the present study, we sought to assess the extent, the predictors and the prognostic impact of optimal lifestyle advice (OLA) and optimal medical therapy (OMT) given at discharge to patients with PAD undergoing invasive peripheral procedures. Patients and methods: We included consecutive patients with PAD undergoing invasive peripheral procedures, between 2012 and 2013. Data were obtained from a mandatory fill-in clinical pathway. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality, verified using the National Mortality Registry. Results: A total of 2014 participants were included (mean age 70±11 years, 38.1% women). OLA was given to 279 (14%), OMT to 1186 (59%) participants. Male gender and absence of chronic limb-threatening ischaemia were significant predictors of OLA and OMT. During the median follow-up of 729 days (interquartile range 645) 392 (19.5%) participants died giving an overall mortality rate of 97/1000 patient years. On multivariate analysis both OLA and OMT emerged as independent predictors of survival (HR for all-cause mortality: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.42-0.82, p 0.005 and HR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.22-0.76, p 0.002). Conclusions: OLA and OMT are associated with better long-term prognosis in patients with PAD, however they are still under-implemented, suggesting a considerable potential for improvement, especially in women.