INTRODUCTIONThis study aims to evaluate the results of foot screening performed in a study population of 2137 diabetics (3926 feet) screened from 2006 to 2008 by the National University Hospital (NUH) multi-disciplinary team for diabetic foot problems.

MATERIALS AND METHODSA standardised protocol was designed. Foot screening consisted of detailed history taking and clinical examination including assessment for sensory neuropathy by Semmes Weinstein monofilament (SWMF) and neurothesiometer and assessment of vasculopathy by ankle-brachial index (ABI) and total body irradiation (TBI). The foot screening was performed by a trained staff nurse. All patients were classified according to King's College Classification.

RESULTSMajority of the patients were in the fifth (27.9%) and sixth (30.0%) decades of life. Two thousand sixty-four had type II diabetes, and only 73 had type I diabetes. Neuropathy was found in 1307 (33.3%) feet based on 5.07 SWMF. Vasculopathy was recorded in 510 (13.0%) and 546 (13.9%) feet based on ABI <0.8 and TBI <0.7. According to King's Classification, 1069 (50.0%) were Stage 1: Normal and 615 (28.8%) were Stage 2: At-Risk.

CONCLUSIONFoot screening should be performed as early as possible to detect "At-Risk" feet and prevent the development of diabetic foot complications, thereby further reducing the risk of major amputations.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Comorbidity ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 ; complications ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; epidemiology ; Diabetic Foot ; classification ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Referral and Consultation ; Young Adult

INTRODUCTION: Data on patients with small aortic annuli (SAA) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are limited. We aim to describe the impact of aortic annular size, particularly SAA and TAVI valve type on valve haemodynamics, durability and clinical outcomes. METHOD: All patients in National Heart Centre Singapore who underwent transfemoral TAVI for severe symptomatic native aortic stenosis from July 2012 to December 2019 were included. Outcome measures include valve haemodynamics, prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM), structural valve degeneration (SVD) and mortality. RESULTS: A total of 244 patients were included. The mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was 6.22±6.08, with 52.5% patients with small aortic annulus (<23mm), 33.2% patients with medium aortic annulus (23-26mm) and 14.3% patients with large aortic annulus (>26mm). There were more patients with self-expanding valve (SEV) (65.2%) versus balloon-expandable valve (BEV) (34.8%). There were no significant differences in indexed aortic valve area (iAVA), mean pressure gradient (MPG), PPM, SVD or mortality across all aortic annular sizes. However, specific to the SAA group, patients with SEV had larger iAVA (SEV 1.19±0.35cm2/m2 vs BEV 0.88±0.15cm2/m2, P<0.01) and lower MPG (SEV 9.25±4.88 mmHg vs BEV 14.17±4.75 mmHg, P<0.01) at 1 year, without differences in PPM or mortality. Aortic annular size, TAVI valve type and PPM did not predict overall mortality up to 7 years. There was no significant difference in SVD between aortic annular sizes up to 5 years. CONCLUSION Valve haemodynamics and durability were similar across the different aortic annular sizes. In the SAA group, SEV had better haemodynamics than BEV at 1 year, but no differences in PPM or mortality. There were no significant differences in mortality between aortic annular sizes, TAVI valve types or PPM.
Humans ; Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement ; Heart Valve Prosthesis ; Aortic Valve Stenosis/surgery* ; Aortic Valve/surgery* ; Prosthesis Design ; Postoperative Complications/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome ; Hemodynamics