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Objective: Complications occur in diabetes despite rigorous efforts to control risk factors. Since 2000, the National Development Programme for the Prevention and Care of Diabetes has worked to halve the incidence of amputations in 10 years. Here we evaluate the impact of the efforts undertaken by analyzing the major amputations done in 1997-2007.Research Design and Methods: All individuals with diabetes (n = 396,317) were identified from comprehensive national databases. Data on the first major amputations (n = 9,481) performed for diabetic and nondiabetic individuals were obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Register.Results: The relative risk for the first major amputation was 7.4 (95% CI 7.2-7.7) among the diabetic versus the nondiabetic population. The standardized incidence of the first major amputation decreased among the diabetic and nondiabetic populations (48.8 and 25.2% relative risk reduction, respectively) over 11 years, and the time from the registration of diabetes to the first major amputation was significantly longer, on average 1.2 years more. The cumulative five-year postamputation mortality among diabetic individuals was 78.7%.Conclusions: In our nationwide diabetes database, the duration from the registration of diabetes to the first major amputation increased, and the incidence of major amputations decreased almost 50% in 11 years. Approximately half of this change was due to the increasing size of the diabetic population. The risk for major amputation is more than sevenfold that among the nondiabetic population. These results pose a continuous challenge to improve diabetes care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main extracellular matrix components of the lung, type I and III collagens, were studied in chronic allograft rejection developing in a porcine heterotopic bronchial transplantation model. Specific porcine complementary DNA probes were constructed for detection of the expression of type I and III procollagen messenger RNAs in the bronchial wall structures and in the obliterative plug by in situ hybridization. In autografts, and in allografts immunosuppressed with 40-O-(2-hydroxyethyl)-rapamycin, cyclosporine A, and methylprednisolone, no histological changes of obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) developed, and the number of fibroblast-like cells expressing type I and III procollagen mRNA remained low. In nontreated allografts obliterating within 21 d, a preponderance of fibroblast-like cells showing positivity for type III procollagen mRNA existed in the obliterative plug and bronchial wall. This study shows for the first time the temporal and spatial activation of type I and III procollagen genes during the course of obliterative bronchiolitis. The number of cells expressing procollagen III mRNA increased parallel to developing obliteration and fibrosis in nontreated allografts, whereas autografts and immunosuppressed allografts exhibited no such trend. This finding suggests a positive association between type III collagen mRNA expression in fibroblast-like cells and development of obliterative bronchiolitis.

Background: Unprocessed ultrasound radiofrequency (RF) signal analysis has been shown to distinguish different tissue structures more reliably than gray-scale interpretation of conventional ultrasound images., Methods and Results: The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of in vivo intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) RF signal analysis in an animal model of allograft rejection. Six cynomolgus monkeys underwent transplantation of 3-cm aortic allograft segments distal to the renal arteries from immunologically mismatched donors. IVUS imaging with a 30-MHz system was performed 84 to 105 days after the operation. RF signals were acquired from cross sections of the recipient and the allograft aortas in real time with a digitizer at 500 MHz with 8-bit resolution. Sixty-five cross sections and 68 regions of interest (31 in host aorta and 37 in allograft) were analyzed in the adventitial layer with a total number of 8568 vectors processed. For each region of interest, a weighted-average attenuation was calculated on the basis of the attenuation and length for each individual vector. Histological examination was performed at every cross section imaged by IVUS. When the gray-scale images of conventional IVUS scored by an independent observer were compared, no distinction between adventitia of the native aorta and allograft was possible. Analysis of the average RF backscatter power also showed no significant difference (70.32+/-3.55 versus 70.72+/-3.38 dB). However, the average attenuation of allografts was significantly lower than that of the host aortas (2.64+/-1.38 versus 4.02+/-1.16 dB/mm, P<0.001). Histology demonstrated a marked adventitial inflammatory response in all allografts, with no inflammation observed in the host aortas., Conclusions: In vivo IVUS tissue characterization can be performed during routine imaging. In this model of transplant vasculopathy, RF attenuation measurements were more sensitive than visual or quantitative gray-scale analysis.