Improving health care in peripheral vascular disease: from population-based to individualized decision-making

Stroke disease from carotid atherosclerosis, aortic aneurysm rupture and aortic rupture account for a significant proportion of cardiovascular disease mortality with major consequences for both individuals and society. Today, these diseases are managed with strategies based on population studies where the choice of treatment is based on algorithms that optimize treatment outcomes for many, but far from all, patients. New technologies for molecular, morphological, biomechanical and imaging analyses make it possible to profile patients to individualize their risk assessment and treatment.

The new project is based on a translational research platform in collaboration between the Vascular Surgeon at Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Institutet (KI), SciLifeLab and the Department of Materials and Structural Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Initially, the researchers will develop molecular markers in blood, biomarkers, through advanced protein analysis for patients at high risk in each disease. In the next step, high-resolution imaging will be implemented to characterize in detail molecular, morphological and biomechanical features for risk assessment of disease expression. With this approach, patients with established clinical risk factors for unfavorable disease progression can be stepwise risk assessed and efficiently selected for appropriate treatment. This optimizes both individual survival and the use of health care resources.

This program is lead by Ulf Hedin, KI and Christian Gasser, KTH. Ulf Hedin is professor in experiment vascular surgery and senior physician, and research group leader of the group Vascular Surgery at KI. Christian Gasser is professor of biomechanics at KTH.

The program was approved by the MedTechLab board in October 2024 and will run for five years, starting in January 2025.