Ten-year single-center outcomes following endovascular repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm using the INCRAFT device.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to report the long-term outcomes beyond 10 years of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysms using the low-profile INCRAFT device. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study of all patients undergoing EVAR using the INCRAFT device as part of the regulatory trial between 2012 and 2013. Primary endpoint was aneurysm-related death. Secondary endpoints were all-cause death, reintervention, late open conversion, and aneurysm status (shrinkage, stable, and growth). RESULTS: Thirty patients with a mean age of 71.8 ± 7.7 years were included in this study. The median aneurysm diameter at EVAR was 54.5 mm (interquartile range, 53-56.8 mm). All abdominal aortic aneurysms in this study were treated following the device's instructions for use. At index EVAR, the INCRAFT device was successfully implanted in all patients using a percutaneous approach under local anesthesia. No patients experienced major adverse events or procedure-related complications 30 days after EVAR. During the median follow-up of 125 months (interquartile range, 98-131 months) with follow-up rates of 100% at 5 years and 96.7% at 10 years, aneurysm-related mortality was 0%, and freedom from all-cause mortality was 82.9% at 5 years and 75.3% at 10 years. Reintervention was required in 10 patients with 15 procedures. Sac growth was observed in 11 patients (36.7%), six of whom eventually required late open conversion; five of these patients underwent open aneurysmorrhaphy with stent graft preservation, and one underwent open surgical repair with endograft explantation. Late rupture was identified in one case, where type Ia endoleak led to rupture at 69 months, and open repair was successfully performed. Freedom from reintervention was 89.0% at 5 years but declined to 60.9% at 10 years; freedom from late open conversion was 100% at 5 years but declined to 70.8% at 10 years. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term outcomes of the INCRAFT stent graft showed no aneurysm-related deaths. However, sac growth occurred persistently throughout the follow-up period, resulting in a relatively high rate of reinterventions in the later periods, which highlights the importance of lifelong postoperative surveillance and appropriate reinterventions when indicated.

Midterm outcomes of endovascular repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm using the cuff-first technique to prevent type II endoleaks.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the initial and midterm outcomes of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) using the cuff-first technique (CFT) to prevent type II endoleak (T2EL). METHODS: CFT involves deploying an aortic cuff inside the AAA to cover the ostium of the aortic side branch vessels before deploying the main body. We performed a retrospective review of all patients undergoing EVAR with CFT or side branch embolization (SBE) for AAAs at The Jikei University Hospital between 2016 and 2022. Primary endpoint was the rate of aneurysm sac shrinkage. Secondary endpoints were procedure time, radiation exposure, technical and clinical success rates, occurrence of T2EL, and freedom from reintervention or aneurysm-related death. RESULTS: Of 406 patients who underwent EVAR for AAAs, CFT was utilized in 56 (CFT group) and SBE in 35 (SBE group); all 91 patients were included in this study. There were no differences in patient demographics between groups, but there were differences in patency rate of the inferior mesenteric artery and absent intraluminal thrombus. The technical success rate per target vessel in the CFT and SBE group was 97.8% and 91.8%, and the clinical success rate was 91.0% and 100%, respectively. The median procedure time was shorter for CFT than for SBE: CFT, 10 (interquartile range [IQR], 6-14) minutes vs SBE, 25 (IQR, 18.5-45) minutes; P < .05), and median radiation exposure was lower for CFT than for SBE (CFT, 1455 (IQR, 840-2634) mGy vs SBE, 2353 (IQR, 1552-3586) mGy; P < .05). During the median follow-up of 25 months (IQR, 12.5-47 months), sac shrinkage occurred at similar rates in both groups (CFT, 37.5% vs SBE, 40.0%; P = .812), and there were no differences in freedom from reintervention (CFT, 96.2% and 91.4% at 12 and 36 months vs SBE, 100% and 89.5% at 12 and 36 months; log-rank P = .761) and freedom from aneurysm-related death (100% at 36 months in both groups; log-rank P = .440). The odds ratio of CFT vs SBE for sac regression was calculated by adjusting for inferior mesenteric artery patency and absent intraluminal thrombus, resulting in no statistical significance (odds ratio, 1.231; 95% confidence interval, 0.486-3.122). CONCLUSIONS: CFT is feasible with a shorter procedure time and lower radiation exposure than SBE and comparable mid-term outcomes, including sac shrinkage rate, compared with SBE. We believe that CFT, if anatomically suitable, is an alternative to SBE for the prevention of T2EL during EVAR.

[Early Results of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS) Mitral Valve Surgery with 51 Cases].

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive cardiac surgery of the mitral valve (MICS-MV) has become the routine approach to mitral valve disease in some centers. We reported early results of 51 cases of MICS-MV. METHOD: The preoperative variables, intraoperative date and postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing MICS-MV and conventional surgery of the mitral valve were collected from January 2013 to August 2014. RESULTS: Aortic cross clamp and cardio-pulmonary bypass( CPB) time were longer in this series than in the conventional median sternotomy. We experienced complications and 2 patients required mitral valve replacement (MVR) due to failure of repair in initial MICS cases. One case of the patients with infective endocarditis was performed conversion of from MICS to a median sternotomy due to left ventricle(LV) rupture. CONCLUSION: The early-time outcomes in these patients are acceptable. We think that large number of MICS-MV operations are required to overcome the learning curve.

[Penetrating injury of the right ventricle by nail gun; report of a case].

A 43-year-old man accidentally shot himself with a nail gun. He was seen in the other hospital. Chest computed tomography showed nail penetrating the thorax, and a small amount of pericardial effusion. He was transferred to our hospital and underwent an operation on emergency. After sternotomy and pericardiotomy, the nail was found to reach the right ventricle, and was almost pulled out. The nail was removed and the right ventricle was repaired with felt 4-0 mattress sutures. His postoperative course was uneventful and discharged 7 days after the accident. Because penetrating cardiac injuries often cause cardiac tamponade, prompt diagnosis and emergency surgical repair are required. We report a case of nail penetration injury of the right ventricle with a review of the pertinent literature.

[Ascending aorta-abdominal aorta bypass for atypical coarctation with intractable hypertension due to aortitis syndrome; report of a case].

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital. Aortitis syndrome was diagnosed 12 years ago. She developed intractable hypertension and a computed tomography scan showed coarctation of descending aorta with severe calcificaiton. Her ankle brachial pressure index (ABI) was 0.74 on the right side and was 0.70 on the left side. She underwent a bypass operation with 14 mm-diameter prosthetic graft from ascending aorta to the infrarenal abdominal aorta without using cardiopulmonary bypass. Postoperatively, ABI was 1.22 on the right side and was 1.21 on the left side, and hypertension was well controlled.