Is primary closure of the carotid artery associated with poorer outcomes during carotid endarterectomy?
It appears that primary closure is associated with significantly worse perioperative outcomes compared with endarterectomy with patch angioplasty and eversion endarterectomy, even when the preoperative symptom status of the patient cohorts is equivalent. Although some of its advocates have reported that they can properly select appropriate patients for primary closure based on the size of the artery and other factors, the data demonstrate that these patients have poorer outcomes nonetheless. Primary closure during carotid endarterectomy should predominantly be abandoned in favor of either standard endarterectomy with patch angioplasty or eversion endarterectomy.
FOXC2 is the first gene in which mutations have been strongly associated with primary venous valve failure in both the superficial and deep veins in the lower limb. This gene appears to be important for the normal development and maintenance of venous and lymphatic valves.