In September 2019, Vitratecom installed and commisioned Vascular Screening System VaSera VS-2000 in Bach Mai hospital. VS-2000 is a product of Fukuda Denshi, Japan in diagnosing
What is Atherosclerosis?
The artery system transports blood from the heart, carrying oxygen and nutrients to the body. Over the years, fats, cholesterol and other substances deposit on the walls of the vessels (called atherosclerosis), causing narrowing of the arteries, hindering blood flow. That is called atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis can occur in many vascular systems such as the carotid artery, coronary artery, lower limb … and causes many related diseases. When the atheroma cracks, blood clots form to fill up the artery wall, which is already narrowed by the plaque. They almost play a key role in cardiovascular events: myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, limb embolism …
What is atherosclerosis?
Atherosclerosis is a gradual process that starts at an early age. The age at which atherosclerotic-related events are gradually rejuvenating. The exact cause of the disease is still unknown, but many factors are known to contribute to the formation of atheroma. The onset of atheroma formation may be due to vascular endothelial damage. Some agents can cause endothelial damage such as:
- Blood pressure increases
- High level of lipids in the blood
- Smoke
- High blood sugar
Symptoms of atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis usually causes no symptoms until the event occurs. Symptoms related to atherosclerotic blood vessels:
Coronary atherosclerosis
Coronary arteries are the blood vessels that feed the heart. The consequences of coronary atherosclerosis can cause heart failure and myocardial infarction. The manifestations of coronary artery disease are as follows:
Chest pain: patients may have chest pain during exertion, strong emotions, and support for rest. The pain in the chest usually lasts a few minutes, pain is like severe, spread to the left shoulder, spread down the left arm. Called angina. If the chest pain occurs suddenly, lasting a few tens of minutes to hours, does not help with rest, it is possible that a heart attack is happening. A heart attack when it has happened is a cardiac emergency, which requires timely treatment.
If coronary artery disease causes chronic heart failure, there may be symptoms of heart failure: shortness of breath, shortness of breath on exertion, shortness of breath at night.
Carotid atherosclerosis
The carotid pulse is the blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain. Consequences of carotid atherosclerosis can cause cerebral infarction (brain stroke). Many patients only detect carotid stenosis when a stroke occurs. Symptoms of brain stroke include:
- Impaired consciousness quickly
- Suddenly blurred vision
- Speak hard
- Paraplegic half of people depending on the level
- Physical examination can hear the murmur of murmurs
Atherosclerosis of the lower extremities
Causes lower artery disease. Symptoms include:
Recuperative pain means pain when walking, less pain when resting. When you are very sick, you may only walk a few dozen meters and have foot pain and have to stop to rest.
Cold limbs, muscle atrophy, dry skin due to nourished blood reduction
Lower limb circuit catch bad or not caught
Aneurysm
Abdominal aortic atherosclerosis, thoracic aortic atherosclerosis is a risk factor for aortic aneurysm There are usually no symptoms but it is very dangerous if an event occurs, which can be life-threatening if there is an aneurysm. Possible symptoms in aortic aneurysm:
Chest pain, back pain
Symptoms due to compression of structures in the chest: hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, superior vena cava syndrome (edema of the face, neck, upper limbs) ..
Abdominal pain (abdominal aortic aneurysm)
The block in the abdomen beats the heart’s rhythm
Measures to diagnose atherosclerosis
- ABI measurement: ankle-arm blood pressure for early detection of lower limb artery disease
- Doppler ultrasound: can detect the narrowing, blockage of the vascular systems and affect the flow of this narrowing. Usually do ultrasound carotid vessels, renal vessels, lower limb circuits.
- X-ray tomography with picture: usually used when patients have symptoms, need intervention (aortic aneurysm, carotid stenosis, peripheral artery disease …
- Stress test: exercise with running mat, ultrasound exertion when coronary artery disease is suspected to look for signs of myocardial ischemia
- ECG: Detects signs of ischemic heart disease (coronary heart disease), myocardial infarction
- Coronary computed tomography when indicated
- Blood test: Cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C, LDL-C, HbA1C
The Fukuda Denshi VS-2000 machine uses ABI and CAVI measurements, used to measure ankle-arm blood pressure and ECG using this non-invasive method, making a diagnosis of age of blood vessels and atherosclerosis. of the artery. The device is easy to operate and operate by technicians, doctors … can give fast results to patients. From there, the doctor can provide treatment for patients.
Some images that the machine uses:
