Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (575 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Pathological processes involving any of the blood vessels in the cardiac or peripheral circulation. They include diseases of arteries; veins; and rest of the vasculature system in the body.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Diseases, Vascular; Disease, Vascular; Vascular Disease.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Narrower topics
- Aneurysm; Aneurysm, False; Angiodysplasia; Angioedema; Angiomatosis; Aortic Diseases; Arterial Occlusive Diseases; Arteriovenous Malformations; Capillary Leak Syndrome; Cerebrovascular Disorders; Colitis, Ischemic; Compartment Syndromes; Diabetic Angiopathies; Embolism and Thrombosis
Related concepts
- Blood Vessels
- Arteries
- Veins
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 2,071,694 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Vascular Diseases” (counts retrieved 2026-10-29). 380,798 of them (18.4%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 742,871 records.
Reviews account for 284,473 records (13.7%) and meta-analyses for 28,726. Randomized controlled trials number 69,231 (3.3%) as a share of all records on the topic.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 742,871 |
| 2000-2009 | 406,782 |
| 2010-2019 | 541,243 |
| 2020 onward | 380,798 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 284,473 | 13.7% |
| Meta-analyses | 28,726 | 1.4% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 69,231 | 3.3% |
Method: PubMed query "Vascular Diseases"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-29.
Reading the evidence in cardiovascular medicine
Cardiovascular medicine has an unusually large body of randomized trials, so the type of outcome matters: hard clinical events such as death, heart attack and stroke carry more weight than changes in blood pressure, cholesterol or imaging markers that only predict risk. Observational studies can show associations but are confounded by age, lifestyle and other illness. Check whether a result is about prevention or treatment, the baseline risk of participants, and the absolute rather than only the relative size of any benefit.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh HEARTS: Lessons Learned from a National Hypertension Control Program, 2018-2026 | 2026 | Review article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 0 | cc by PMID 42921236 · DOI · PMC13693583 |
| Treatment attrition and outcomes of myeloma patients in Finland: a real-world study | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 0 | cc by PMID 42899458 · DOI · PMC13688295 |
| Plasma proteomic signatures of subclinical atherosclerosis progression for cardiovascular risk stratification: A cohort study | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 0 | cc by PMID 42900662 · DOI · PMC13682661 |
Bangladesh HEARTS: Lessons Learned from a National Hypertension Control Program, 2018-2026 [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- To improve hypertension control and prevent cardiovascular disease in Bangladesh, the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh and Resolve to Save Lives collaborated with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to launch the Bangladesh Hypertension Control Initiative (BHCI).
- Closing excerpt
- For sustained high-quality national scale-up, uninterrupted supply of medicines by the government and accurate information systems are crucial.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (153 words)
To improve hypertension control and prevent cardiovascular disease in Bangladesh, the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh and Resolve to Save Lives collaborated with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to launch the Bangladesh Hypertension Control Initiative (BHCI). The BHCI implemented the WHO-HEARTS hypertension control package in four primary health care facilities (Upazila Health Complexes or UHCs) in 2018, then scaled up to 51 UHCs in 2021, 172 UHCs by 2024, and 320 UHCs by May 2026, covering about 54 million of 108 million adults (~43% coverage). By May 2026, the BHCI had enrolled 739,057 hypertensive patients and achieved 59% blood pressure (BP) control (<140/90 mmHg based on BP measured in the prior three months among all enrolled patients). The BHCI is a scalable model for hypertension control programs in other low- and middle-income countries. For sustained high-quality national scale-up, uninterrupted supply of medicines by the government and accurate information systems are crucial.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42921236 · DOI · PMC13693583
Treatment attrition and outcomes of myeloma patients in Finland: a real-world study [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Background and purposeRelapses, need for further treatment lines and significant treatment attrition are typical for multiple myeloma (MM).
- Closing excerpt
- The findings underscore the need for more tolerable and effective anti-myeloma treatments in earlier course of the disease to enhance patient survival.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (181 words)
Background and purposeRelapses, need for further treatment lines and significant treatment attrition are typical for multiple myeloma (MM). This retrospective study investigates attrition and outcomes among MM patients in Finland. Patient, material and methods: Study included all adult MM patients (n = 1733) diagnosed and treated in four hospital districts in Finland in 2013-2022. Data were collected from hospital data lakes, Statistics Finland and Social Insurance Institution. Treatment attrition was defined as death before next treatment line.ResultsBy the end of follow-up 31% of patients without stem cell transplantation (non-SCT) had died before initiation of second line treatment (2L), compared with 5% of stem-cell transplant (SCT) patients. The factors associating with this early attrition in the non-SCT cohort were older age (over 75 years), higher comorbidity burden, International Staging System (ISS), and (R)-ISS scores (p InterpretationThis study highlights significant treatment attrition across disease course and also early mortality especially in the non-SCT cohort resulting primarily from progressive MM or infections. The findings underscore the need for more tolerable and effective anti-myeloma treatments in earlier course of the disease to enhance patient survival.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42899458 · DOI · PMC13688295
Plasma proteomic signatures of subclinical atherosclerosis progression for cardiovascular risk stratification: A cohort study [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- BackgroundExisting risk stratification tools inadequately identify individuals with subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) who could benefit from early intervention.
- Closing excerpt
- 127 (p ConclusionsSA ProtRSs of coronary calcification and carotid plaque progression may provide additional value over traditional risk assessment, highlighting their potential in refining risk stratification and guiding targeted intervention strategies.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (241 words)
BackgroundExisting risk stratification tools inadequately identify individuals with subclinical atherosclerosis (SA) who could benefit from early intervention. This study aimed to develop protein risk scores (ProtRSs) for SA progression and assess their incremental value for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk prediction.Methods and findingsIn a community cohort consisting of 903 individuals undergoing repeated SA assessments (coronary artery calcium [CAC] or carotid plaque) over 6 years (2008-2009 to 2013-2014), protein biomarkers were selected from a panel of 117 proteins using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression to construct SA ProtRSs for CAC and plaque progression, respectively, and their predictive abilities for incident ASCVD risk were evaluated based on a guideline-recommended traditional risk score in a case-cohort of 1,835 individuals (2007-2008 to 2018-2021, median follow-up of 10.4 years). The ProtRSs each included 14 proteins for CAC and plaque progression, explaining 17.1% and 18.4% of respective variances. Effect sizes of these proteins on SA progression showed strong concordance with those on incident ASCVD (r > 0.75). Each standard deviation increase in CAC and plaque ProtRSs was associated with hazard ratios of 1.36 (95% confidence interval [CI] [1.20,1.54]) and 1.38 (95% CI [1.23,1.54]) for ASCVD risk, respectively. Addition of the SA ProtRSs to the traditional risk score yielded a net reclassification improvement of 0.127 (p ConclusionsSA ProtRSs of coronary calcification and carotid plaque progression may provide additional value over traditional risk assessment, highlighting their potential in refining risk stratification and guiding targeted intervention strategies.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42900662 · DOI · PMC13682661
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Recurrent VTE in patients with thrombophilia after stopping anticoagulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis [4]
- Research article MRI features of parenchymal neuro-Behçet's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis [5]
- Research article Intravenous Thrombolysis Beyond the Conventional Time Window for Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis [6]
- Research article Clinical Modifiers of Salt Sensitivity: A Meta-Regression and Risk Translation Study [7]
- Research article IV Thrombolysis in the Extended Time Window for Acute Ischemic Stroke: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis [8]
- Research article Efficacy of DPP-4 Inhibitors on Seated and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus [9]
References
- Jubayer S, Ahsan-Uz-Zaman M, Hossain SZ, Bhuiyan MR, Aimiosior O, Abrar A, et al.. Bangladesh HEARTS: Lessons Learned from a National Hypertension Control Program, 2018-2026. . 2026. PMID 42921236 · DOI · PMC13693583
- Putkonen M, Närhi K, Vikkula J, Mattila R, Waltari M, Eeva J, et al.. Treatment attrition and outcomes of myeloma patients in Finland: a real-world study. . 2026. PMID 42899458 · DOI · PMC13688295
- Huang Y, Gao R, Li J, Yang B, Huang K, Chen S, et al.. Plasma proteomic signatures of subclinical atherosclerosis progression for cardiovascular risk stratification: A cohort study. . 2026. PMID 42900662 · DOI · PMC13682661
- Vrotniakaite-Bajerciene K, Wang TF, Sabri E, Shorr R, Angelillo-Scherrer A, Le Gal G, et al.. Recurrent VTE in patients with thrombophilia after stopping anticoagulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Blood Adv. 2026. PMID 42448302 · DOI · PMC13631601
- Alnajashi H, Almohammed HAJ, Morad AS, Bin Saddiq BW, Kushara KF, Khan TN, et al.. MRI features of parenchymal neuro-Behçet's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Neurol. 2026. PMID 42687938 · DOI · PMC13533666
- Patel S, Nischal SA, Kale KM, Gooch MR, Tjoumakaris SI, Jabbour PM. Intravenous Thrombolysis Beyond the Conventional Time Window for Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2026. PMID 42560675 · DOI · PMC13448797
- Chen SH, Yeh CY, Chiang-Lin YP, Huang CJ, Chuang SY, Wu CC, et al.. Clinical Modifiers of Salt Sensitivity: A Meta-Regression and Risk Translation Study. Hypertension. 2026. PMID 42488947 · DOI
- Palaiodimou L, Papageorgiou NM, Romoli M, Theodorou A, Stefanou MI, Lemmens R, et al.. IV Thrombolysis in the Extended Time Window for Acute Ischemic Stroke: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Neurology. 2026. PMID 42492020 · DOI
- Zhao L, Meng J, Li J, Liu C, Yang Y, Wu Y, et al.. Efficacy of DPP-4 Inhibitors on Seated and Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2026. PMID 42454434 · DOI · PMC13538814
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-29.
See how EvidenceLib is built. Spotted an error? Email support@evidencehelix.com.
Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.