MULTIFOCAL ATHEROSCLEROSIS: SURGICAL TREATMENT OF COMBINED ATHEROSCLEROTIC LESION OF THE CAROTID AND MAIN ARTERIES OF THE LOWER EXTREMITIES
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been for many years the major cause of deaths in the whole world. In the European Union, despite recent decreases of mortality rate in many countries, CVD are still responsible for about half (46%) of all deaths, the majority of them being caused by atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a chronic progressive disease which can affect any vascular bed (coronary, cerebrovascular, visceral, peripheral arterial) as a single disease, but it can also occur in more than one area as a polyvascular disease. The presence of atherosclerotic disease in one vascular bed frequently indicates an increased risk for its development in the other one. The prevalence of multifocal atherosclerotic lesion varies from 6% to 71%, depending on the age group of the population in which the study was conducted as well as on the study design. Polyvascular disease patients have a high risk profile and a worse prognosis of the disease course compared to the patients with the lesion of only one vascular bed.