Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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AGE AS IMPORTANT FACTOR IN TREATMENT OF PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE: MONTE CARLO NUMERICAL ANALYSIS APPLICATION

IVANA DAMNJANOVIĆ 1*, NIKOLA STEFANOVIĆ 1, IVAN PAVLOVIĆ 2, ZORAN DAMNJANOVIĆ 3,4

1University of Niš, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Serbia
2 University of of Niš, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Serbia
3 University of Niš, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Serbia
4 University Clinical Center Niš, Clinic for Vascular surgery, Serbia

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Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a growing global health concern, with age being the strongest non-modifiable risk factor for its progression. Despite various therapeutic options, the chronic nature of PAD makes achieving optimal treatment outcomes challenging. This study aimed to identify a mathematical correlation using a hypothetical patient cohort to assess the impact of age on claudication distance (CD) improvement after six months of pharmacological therapy. A total of 82 PAD patients were treated with dual therapy: pentoxifylline + acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA/PEN) or cilostazol + acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA/CIL). Results showed a significant increase in CD after six months in the ASA/CIL group (p = 0.042). Age was also significantly associated with both initial CD (p < 0.001) and CD improvement after treatment (p < 0.013). Monte Carlo (MC) simulation highlighted the benefit of early ASA/CIL therapy, particularly in patients aged 55 - 65 years, for maximizing walking distance improvements. Our findings suggest that MC numerical analysis is a valuable tool for PAD treatment optimization, demonstrating strong predictive ability. Further studies with larger cohorts are needed to validate this approach and refine individualized treatment strategies.