Panvascular medicine: an emerging discipline focusing on atherosclerotic diseases.

Abstract

Panvascular diseases refer to a series of vascular diseases with atherosclerosis as the common pathological feature, mainly affecting important organs such as the heart, brain, kidney, and limbs. Due to the recent subdivision of disciplines, panvascular diseases represented by coronary artery disease, ischaemic stroke, and peripheral artery disease are included in different disciplines and managed separately. However, different disciplines may focus on local lesions while ignoring systemic vascular changes, resulting in significant differences in the diagnostic and treatment strategies. The concept of panvascular medicine starts from a holistic perspective of the body's structure and function and explores the mechanisms of the occurrence and progression of atherosclerotic diseases using systems biology and multi-dimensional approaches. Panvascular medicine is an emerging discipline that focuses on atherosclerotic diseases and is based on the concept of multidisciplinary integration. After years of development, panvascular medicine has moved from theory to clinical practice. It is currently necessary to establish a comprehensive management model, including prevention, diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis. The treatment strategy for panvascular diseases should change from ‘disease-centred’ to ‘patient-centred’. Individualized treatment for vascular lesions and target-organ damage can thus be performed on the basis of a comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular risk.