A. Strano – författare

Four years ago when the first European Symposium on the re­ lationship between alterations of blood clotting mechanisms and atherosclerosis was organized, we asked ourselves which would be the best way to obtain both scientific and practical contributions. We have been interested in cardiovascular diseases for several years now and have therefore focused our attention on the "container" (Le. the blood vessel) rather than on the "contents" (Le. the various components of blood) as considered only from a haemodynamic point of view. In recent years correlations were found between alterations of vascular wall and alteration of coagulative, fibrinolytic, and plate­ let factors as well as of haemorheological phenomena in the thrombo­ genic evolution of atherosclerotic lesions. A close cooperation between cardiologists and workers interested in atherosclerosis and thrombosis is therefore necessary. We think that the most appropriate approach to the various problems concerning correlations between thrombogenic and atherosclerotic lesions is co-operation between experts in these different fields of research. We thus decided to organize the 2nd Symposium taking into account the great progress achieved in this field during the past few years, and hope that discussions on diagnostic and therapeutical perspec''­ tives will yield useful elements both for the cardiologist and for the cardiologist and for the general practitioner.

Four years ago when the first European Symposium on the re­ lationship between alterations of blood clotting mechanisms and atherosclerosis was organized, we asked ourselves which would be the best way to obtain both scientific and practical contributions. We have been interested in cardiovascular diseases for several years now and have therefore focused our attention on the "container" (Le. the blood vessel) rather than on the "contents" (Le. the various components of blood) as considered only from a haemodynamic point of view. In recent years correlations were found between alterations of vascular wall and alteration of coagulative, fibrinolytic, and plate­ let factors as well as of haemorheological phenomena in the thrombo­ genic evolution of atherosclerotic lesions. A close cooperation between cardiologists and workers interested in atherosclerosis and thrombosis is therefore necessary. We think that the most appropriate approach to the various problems concerning correlations between thrombogenic and atherosclerotic lesions is co-operation between experts in these different fields of research. We thus decided to organize the 2nd Symposium taking into account the great progress achieved in this field during the past few years, and hope that discussions on diagnostic and therapeutical perspec'­ tives will yield useful elements both for the cardiologist and for the cardiologist and for the general practitioner.

Arterial and venous diseases are major causes of morbidity and mortality in most of the world, especially in the western hemisphere. Not only of interest to angiologists, these illnesses are also of concern to most physicians in various fields ranging from cardiology, general medicine and cardiovascular surgery to physiology, pathology and clinical pharmacology. Specialists in diabetes, hypertension and epidemiology find these illnesses as challenging in their own fields of interest due to the gross interrelation of these diseases with their specialities. This book of 35 chapters contains an up-to-date discussion of various arterial and venous illnesses presenting major clinical applications ranging from basic pathology, haemodynamics and haemorheology to clinical features and management. Special attention has also been paid to epidemiology and prevention, discussing all the issues concerned. A special section on vascular emergency has also been included, thereby extending its usefulness to physicians and surgeons working in accident and emergency units.