Vascular loops mimicking herniated lumbar discs: fair warning.

The authors report their experience with twenty-one consecutive patients who presented with symptoms and imaging characteristics of a herniated lumbar disc; of whom, at the time of surgery had a vascular loop instead. The procedure was performed on 14 women and seven men with a mean age of 39 years. Clinical complaints included lumbar aching with one limb overt radiculopathy in all patients; with additional sphincter dysfunction in two cases. Symptoms had developed within a mean period of three months. In all patients, the disc was exposed through an L5-S1 (n = 10); L4-L5 (n = 5) and L3-L4 (n = 6) open minimal laminotomy. In 16 patients, rather than a herniated disc they had a lumbar epidural varix, while an arterio-venous fistula was found in the remaining five cases. In all cases, the vascular disorder was resected and its subjacent disc was left intact. One patient had a postoperative blood transfusion. While the radiculopathy dysfunction improved in all patients, four patients reported lasting lumbar pain following surgery. The postoperative imaging confirmed the resolution of the vascular anomaly and an intact disc. The mean length of the follow-up period was 47 months. Either epidural varix or arterio-venous fistula in the lumbar area may mimic a herniated disc on imaging studies. With the usual technique they can be operated safely. Resection of the anomaly can be sufficient for alleviating radiculopathy symptoms.

A rare case of spinal involvement in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

INTRODUCTION: Here, we describe a rare case of a spinal arteriovenous fistula in a patient with known hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) and spontaneous intraspinal hemorrhage. Furthermore, we provide a brief review of the literature on the formation of spinal arteriovenous malformations (AVM) in relation to this disease. CASE PRESENTATION: The case involves a 54-year-old male with known HHT. At the age of 49, the patient experienced recurrent cystitis. Urological evaluation ruled the cause to be neurological and subsequent imaging revealed a thoracic AVM. Four years later, the patient was admitted to A&E with chest pain and loss of function of the lower extremities and right arm, suspicious for ruptured aortic dissection. Trauma-CT excluded this and a final diagnosis of ruptured spinal AVM was made. Seven months post-injury, a spinal angiography was performed confirming the AVM. The remaining AVM was embolized under general anesthesia with acceptable results. DISCUSSION: Spinal involvement in HHT is exceedingly rare but remains an important differential diagnosis, especially when patients present autonomic symptoms as these could potentially progress to life-threatening complications. The literature and the presented case indicate the prudence of closing spinal AVMs in HHT in case of symptoms, including autonomic, such as bladder dysfunction.

[Surgical treatment of traumatic arteriovenous fistulas of extremities]. / Osobennosti khirurgicheskogo lecheniya travmaticheskikh arteriovenoznykh fistul konechnostei.

The number of victims with damage to the great vessels has increased in recent years due to escalation of armed conflicts. Vascular damages comprise 3% of traumatic injuries in peacetime, and their incidence increases to 15% during hostilities. False aneurysms and traumatic arteriovenous fistulas follow vascular injury in 48.9-68.7% of cases. We present open surgical treatment of traumatic arteriovenous fistulas. The issues of diagnosis, surgical tactics, algorithm of intervention and options for successful treatment are described.

Giant splenic artery pseudoaneurysm with arteriovenous fistula: diagnostic challenges and interdisciplinary treatment considerations.

We present a compelling case of an elderly male with a complex medical history who presented with sepsis secondary to a urinary tract infection. During admission, changes in his abdominal exam prompted imaging studies, which revealed a grade IV splenic laceration with a giant splenic artery pseudoaneurysm containing a suspected arteriovenous fistula component. Multidisciplinary discussion was had regarding patient management which resulted in the decision to perform an emergent splenectomy. Learning points from this case underscore the crucial role of interdisciplinary collaboration in the treatment of this pathology. Additionally, we discuss the decision-making process to support surgical intervention in the absence of clear guidelines in this exceedingly rare condition.

Diagnosis and Management of Congenital Coronary Artery Fistulas in Adults.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review describes the presentation, diagnosis, and management of congenital coronary artery fistulas (CAFs) in adults. RECENT FINDINGS: CAFs are classified as coronary-cameral or coronary arteriovenous fistulas. Fistulous connections at the distal coronary bed are more likely to be aneurysmal with higher risk of thrombosis and myocardial infarction (MI). Medium-to-large or symptomatic CAFs can manifest as ischemia, heart failure, and arrhythmias. CAF closure is recommended when there are attributable symptoms or evidence of adverse coronary remodeling. Closure is usually achievable using transcatheter techniques, though large fistulas may require surgical ligation with bypass. Given their anatomic complexity, cardiac CT with multiplanar 3-D reconstruction can enhance procedural planning of CAF closure. Antiplatelet and anticoagulation are essential therapies in CAF management. CAFs are rare cardiac anomalies with variable presentations and complex anatomy. CAF management strategies include indefinite medical therapy, percutaneous or surgical CAF closure, and lifelong patient surveillance.

[Spontaneous femoral arterio-venous fistula in an 80-year-old female patient as an incidental finding]. / Spontane femorale arterio-venöse Fistel bei einer 80-jährigen Patientin als Zufallsbefund.

INTRODUCTION: Spontaneous arteriovenous fistulas (AVF), in contrast to iatrogenic or post-traumatic ones, are extremely rare and only sporadically published in the literature. In the absence of exposure risk, the diagnosis of AVF can be challenging, especially if it is an incidental finding. CASE HISTORY: An 80-year-old female patient presented to our vascular consultation because of swelling of the left leg due to varicosis. For years, she had also noticed that the right foot seemed to be cooler. Percutaneous catheter examinations via the groin had not been performed, and she could not remember any groin injuries. EXAMINATION AND FINDINGS: Truncal varicosis of the great saphenous vein confirmed clinically and sonographically. In addition, with peripheral pulses obtained, the right foot appeared slightly cooler but not discolored. On auscultation, a systolic-diastolic murmur accompanied by palpable buzzing was heard in the right groin. Color duplex sonography showed a coarse color mosaic pattern between the common femoral artery (AFC) and the anterior saphenous vein (VSAA) in the sense of aliasing ("confetti phenomenon"). A fistula channel between the AFC and VSAA could be visualized, in which very high systolic-diastolic flow velocities prevailed; pulsatile and turbulent flow was present in the region of the crosse-near femoral vein. THERAPY AND COURSE: Endovenous laser ablation was performed for symptomatic truncal varicosis of the left leg. Under ultrasound-guided compression of the afferent artery and fistula at the right groin, the fistula flow did not stop. The patient was reluctant to undergo a proposed interventional closure of the AVF. In follow-up over 4 years, no signs of cardiac insufficiency or critical limb ischemia developed. DISCUSSION: Spontaneous femoral AVF is a rarity. Characteristic clinical findings lead to a targeted use of color duplex sonography with correct interpretation of artifacts that can otherwise be easily missed.

Intraoperative Diagnosis of Bilateral Upper Limb Arteriovenous Fistulae in a Child: A Case Report.

Arteriovenous fistulae have not been extensively reported in pediatric patients and are rare for pediatric anesthesiologists to encounter in their routine practice. Awareness of these lesions enables clinicians to avoid giving medications through the anomalous vascular connections. We report a child scheduled for an excision of a sacrococcygeal mass in whom we incidentally diagnosed the presence of arteriovenous fistulae in both his upper limbs. The affected limbs should be avoided and the vessels of the lower limbs should be cannulated for administration of fluid and medications during surgery.

Lobectomy for Pulmonary Arteriovenous Fistula in a Patient With Rendu-Osler-Weber Disease: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: Rendu-Osler-Weber disease (Osler's disease) is the most common cause of pulmonary arteriovenous fistula. We report a case of pulmonary arteriovenous fistula associated with Osler's disease that was treated by lobectomy. CASE REPORT: A 44-year-old man with Osler's disease presented with respiratory distress. Computed tomography showed a pulmonary arteriovenous fistula, which had a 26-mm-long diameter in S6 of the left lung. Transcatheter treatment had a high risk of recurrence, and surgery was indicated. The pulmonary arteriovenous fistula was found at the beginning of A6. A6 and the basilar artery were cut together with a stapler. The postoperative course was uneventful, and respiratory distress symptoms improved with no recurrence. CONCLUSION: We report a case of pulmonary arteriovenous fistula caused by Osler's disease treated by lobectomy. Although transcatheter treatment is the mainstream treatment for pulmonary arteriovenous fistulas, surgical resection may be effective depending on the size of the lesion.

Percutaneous treatment of an iatrogenic femoral arteriovenous fistula from an accessory arterial branch: a case report and review of the literature.

Vascular access-related complications are an important consideration in patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation. Patients with CHD are increasingly undergoing percutaneous treatment for suitable procedures as an alternative, less invasive option to surgical intervention. As such, recognition and treatment of these complications are becoming increasingly important. We present a case of a patient with repaired Tetralogy of Fallot who developed a femoral arteriovenous fistula and femoral artery pseudoaneurysm arising from an accessory arterial branch following percutaneous Harmony valve implantation, both of which were treated endovascularly with placement of a stent.

An effective AI model for automatically detecting arteriovenous fistula stenosis.

In this study, a novel artificial intelligence (AI) model is proposed to detect stenosis in arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) using inexpensive and non-invasive audio recordings. The proposed model is a combination of two new input features based on short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and sample entropy, as well as two associated classification models (ResNet50 and ANN). The model's hyper-parameters were optimized through the use of the design of the experiment (DOE). The proposed AI model demonstrates high performance with all essential metrics, including sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, precision, and F1-score, exceeding 0.90 at detecting stenosis greater than 50%. These promising results suggest that our approach can lead to new insights and knowledge in this field. Moreover, the robust performance of our model, combined with the affordability of the audio recording device, makes it a valuable tool for detecting AVF stenosis in home-care settings.

Dural arteriovenous fistula with spinal dural arteriovenous fistula: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: This paper analyzed the cases of dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) with spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) in the diagnosis and treatment process. CASE PRESENTATION: One case involving dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) with spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) from the 306th Hospital of PLA was retrospectively analyzed. The patient consulted the doctor due to lower limb sensory and motor disorders while exhibiting symptoms of urinary dysfunction. A computed tomographic angiography (CTA) and cerebral angiography confirmed the diagnosis of dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF), necessitating surgical treatment. The patient was referred to our hospital for an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a spinal angiography to obtain a confirmed diagnosis for spinal arteriovenous fistula, after which they underwent surgical fistula resection. The invasive intracranial dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) resection proceeded smoothly but did not ease the patient's symptoms. However, postoperative symptoms were partially relieved by the lumbar open spinal dural arteriovenous fistula adminstration. CONCLUSIONS: Since not enough is understood about these two diseases, the rate of misdiagnosis is significantly increased. Early diagnosis and treatment of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (SDAVF) can play a positive role during the recovery from neural function damage.

The value of 3D T2-weighted SPACE sequence in the differential diagnosis of spinal arteriovenous fistula and acute transverse myelitis.

OBJECTIVE: Spinal arteriovenous fistulas (SAVF) was often neglected and misdiagnosed as acute transverse myelitis (ATM) due to its insidious onset and non-specific clinical symptoms. This study aims to investigate the differential diagnostic value of high-resolution T2-weighted volumetric sequence (3D sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using different flip-angle evolutions [SPACE]) in patients with SAVF and ATM. METHODS: Retrospectively analyzed the clinical and radiological findings of 32 SDAVF patients and 32 ATM patients treated at our institutions from May 2018 to January 2023. They all underwent conventional spinal MRI and T2-SPACE examination, compared their performance in identifying lesions, to estimate the value of T2 SPACE sequence in the diagnosis of SAVF and ATM patients. RESULTS: The clue of cauda equina area change (CEAC) in conventional MRI and T2-SPACE sequences is specific for the diagnosis of SAVF. The diagnostic model composed of perimedullary flow voids (PFV) and CEAC has good diagnostic performance (AUCMRI = 0.95; AUCSPACE = 0.935). Compared with conventional MRI, the T2-SPACE sequence has a higher detection rate, sensitivity, and negative predictive value for PFV and CEAC in SAVF patients, but lower specificity and positive predictive value. In T2-SPACE images, there are significant differences in the distribution range, quadrant, and maximum diameter of PFV vessels between SAVF and ATM patients. Moreover, T2-SPACE sequence can determine the site of fistula in most SAVF patients preferably, and the inter-rater agreement was good in the assessment of the fistula. CONCLUSION: The CEAC is a new and useful clue for the diagnosis of thoracolumbar SAVF. And T2-SPACE sequence can more intuitively observe the lesions of SAVF, has good differential diagnostic value for SAVF and ATM patients.

Ventilation-Perfusion Mismatch in a Patient With an Arteriovenous Fistula and Underlying Pulmonary Parenchymal Disease.

Many causes can result in hypoxia. We describe an interesting case of a patient with an arteriovenous fistula who had worsening hypoxia initially attributed to progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure. However, after a meticulous workup, we found an interplay of complex yet common factors contributing to hypoxia.

Comparison of drug-coated balloon angioplasty versus common balloon angioplasty for arteriovenous fistula stenosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) have been used in dialysis patients with arteriovenous fistula (AVF) stenosis, but whether DCBs have advantages over ordinary balloons is still controversial. A meta-analysis was designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of DCBs and common balloons (CBs) in the treatment of AVF stenosis. We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) databases for randomized controlled trials that evaluated the comparison of DCB angioplasty versus CB angioplasty for AVF stenosis in dialysis patients and reported at least one outcome of interest. The results showed that the DCB group had a higher first-stage patency rate of the target lesion 6 months [odds ratio, OR = 2.31, 95% confidence interval, CI: (1.69, 3.15), p < .01] and 12 months [OR = 2.09, 95% CI: (1.50, 2.91), p < .01] after surgery. There was no statistically significant difference in all-cause mortality between the two groups at 6 months [OR = 0.85, 95% CI: (0.47, 1.52), p = .58] and 12 months [OR = 0.99, 95% CI: (0.60, 1.64), p = .97]. Compared with CB, DCBs as a new endovascular treatment for AVF stenosis have a higher primary patency rate of target lesions and can delay the occurrence of restenosis. There is no evidence that DCB can increase the mortality of patients.

High cardiac output state due to pelvic arterio-venous shunt: a case report and review of the literature.

We are presenting a 35-year-old woman with past medical history of disseminated leiomyomatosis who presented with heart failure symptoms and was found to have post-capillary pulmonary hypertension and high cardiac output state in right heart catheterization secondary to a huge pelvic arterio-venous fistula.