Haemorheological Aspects of Peripheral Vascular Diseases
摘要
Vascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability among adult and elderly populations in many countries. Atherosclerosis is mainly responsible for the development of arterial diseases. Despite the systemic nature of well-known risk factors (e.g. hypertension, dyslipidaemia, smoking or diabetes mellitus), atherosclerotic lesions do not develop randomly throughout the vascular beds, but they tend to occur at vessel bifurcations, branchings and curvatures. This specific localization of lesions suggests that local haemodynamical and haemorheological factors play a role in their formation.