[Comparative analysis of conventional and eversion carotid endarterectomy--prospective randomized study].

INTRODUCTION: Studies completed in the last decade of the 20th century showed benefits of carotid endarterectomy in the prevention of stroke in patients with a high-grade stenosis of the internal carotid artery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this prospective, randomized study was the comparison of early and long-term results between the conventional and eversion carotid endarterectomy, and literature review. METHOD: By the method of random choice, 103 patients were operated on using the eversion carotid endarterectomy and 98 patients using the conventional technique. Operative treatment was carried out under general anaesthesia. Following the clammping of the carotid artery, retrograde blood pressure was determined by a direct puncture of the internal carotid artery above the stenotic lesions. In patients with retrograde pressure below 20 mm Hg intraluminal shunting was routinely performed. Early results were estimated (during the first seven postoperative days) based on mortality, central neurological complications (stroke, TIA) and cranial or cervical nerve lesions. Long-term results were estimated (after at least two years) based on long-term survival rate, central neurological complications (stroke,TIA) and the incidence of haemodynamically significant restenosis of the carotid artery treated by endarterectomy. RESULTS: The average time of clamming of the internal carotid artery in the eversion carotid anderectomy group was 5.36 minutes shorter than in the group treated by the conventional technique. Student's t-test showed a statistically highly significant difference in the time needed for clamming of the internal carotid artery between the two groups. The average duration of eversion endarterectomy (82 minutes) was most often 19 minutes shorter than the duration of the conventional endarterectomy (101 minutes). Student's t-test showed a statistically highly significant difference in the average length of surgeries. The distal intimal fixation was more often needed during the conventional carotid endarterectomy (34.7%) compared to eversion endarterectomy (3.9%). Chi 2-test showed a statistically highly significant difference. CONCLUSION: Eversion carotid endarectomy represents a statistically significantly shorter procedure. Distal intimal fixation demanded by this procedure is very rare, clammping of the internal carotid artery is significantly shorter, and it also has a lower rate of the early neurological complications. Based on the results of this study, as well as the opinions of other authors, it can be concluded that the eversion carotid endarterectomy has an advantage over the conventional procedure.We recommend conventional procedure only in cases when retrograde pressure indicates the use of the intraluminal shunting.

[Surgical treatment of abdominal tumours closely related to major blood vessels].

INTRODUCTION: Radical operative treatment of abdominal tumours closely related to major blood vessels often demands complex vascular procedures. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to present elementary principles and results of the complex procedures, based on 46 patients operated on at the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, from January 1999 to July 2006. METHOD: Primary localisation of the tumour was the kidney in 14 patients, the suprarenal gland in 2, the retroperitoneum in 23 and the testis in 7 patients. Histologically, the most frequent were the following: renal carcinoma in 14 patients, teratoma in 7, liposarcoma in 5, fibrosarcoma and lymphoma in 3 patients. The tumour compressed abdominal aorta occurred in 3 cases, vena cava inferior in 5 and both the abdominal aorta and vena cava inferior in 11 cases. In 4 cases the tumour infiltrated the abdominal aorta, in 11 the vena cava inferior and in 8 both of them. In two patients, the tumour compressed the vena cava inferior and infiltrated the aorta; in two patients the aorta was compressed and the vena cava was infiltrated. In three cases only the exploration was performed due to multiple abdominal organ infiltration. The ex tempore biopsy showed the type of tumour in which the radical surgical treatment did not improve the prognosis. In 20 cases of tumour compression, subadventitional excision was performed. In 23 cases of infiltration, the tumour excision and vascular reconstruction had to be performed. Intraoperative blood cell saving and autotransfusion were applied in 27 patients. RESULTS: The lethal outcome happened in 3 (6.5%) patients during hospitalization. In other patients all reconstructed blood vessels were patent during the postoperative hospitalization period. CONCLUSION: Treatment of the abdominal tumours closely related to major blood vessels must be interdisciplinary, considering diagnostics, operability estimation and additional measures. Tumour reduction cannot improve long term prognosis, and has no major impact on life quality. There have been not many papers that analyse the long term results after such complex operations proving their appropriateness.

False anastomotic aneurysms.

This retrospective study covers the period from 1991 to 2002, during which 3,623 patients were operated on because of aneurysmal or occlusive disease of aortoiliac and femoropopliteal segments. Among them, 87 patients (2.4%) developed a false anastomotic aneurysm in the 12-year follow-up period and were treated operatively. Most frequently, in 53 patients (6.9%), a false anastomotic aneurysm developed after aortobifemoral bypass performed owing to aortoiliac occlusive disease. The cause of false anastomotic aneurysm was infection in 21 cases (24.7%); resection and revascularization were performed with a Dacron graft in 46 cases (52.9%), with a polytetrafluoroethylene graft in 10 cases (11.5%), and with the great saphenous vein in 16 cases (18.4%). Homograft implantation in 4 patients (4.6%) or extra-anatomic bypasses in 11 cases (12.6%) were performed when graft infection was suspected. Of 87 patients who underwent surgery, 74 (85.5%) had good early results without infection, reintervention, limb loss, and mortality. The presence of infection as a cause of false anastomotic aneurysm and comorbidity increased the mortality rate significantly after the reoperation, whereas the type of graft used in treatment had no influence on early results.

[Reconstruction of the supra-aortic branches]. / Rekonstrukcije supraaortnih grana.

The authors present surgical techniques and distant results of the operative treatment in patients with occlusive lesions of the supraaortic branches. The study included 29 men (55.8%) and 23 women (44.2%), with the average age of 54 years. The majority of patients--44 (84.6%) had symptoms and signs of the upper extremities ischemia while 25 (48.1%) had symptoms and signs of cerebral ischemia (the posterior circulation mainly). Among seven patients with isolated cerebral ischemia of the anterior circulation, four of them developed transient ischemic attack (TIA) and three had cerebrovascular insult (CVI). All patients were examined ultrasonographically and angiographically. Operative treatment was performed under general anesthesia. In eight cases the anatomic, and in 44 extraanatomic procedure was applied. Following reconstructive procedures were used: endarterectomy and patch of the brachiocephalic trunk--2, bypass from ascending aorta--7, carotid to subclavian bypass--31, subclavian to carotid bypass--7, subclavian artery transposition--3, axillo-axillary bypass--2. During the follow-up period (10-228 months), eight out of 52 patients exhibited the occlusion of the graft. Six occlusions developed after carotid-subclavian bypass: in two patients reconstructions were performed using Dacron grafts, in three using PTFE grafts and in one patient using autologous vein graft. Two occlusions developed after subclavio-carotid bypass. In both cases the vein graft was used: one was coming from the ipsilateral and the other one from the contralateral subclavian artery. The mean period from the operation to the occlusion of the graft (the mean lasting of the primary flow) was 14.72 years (SE = 1.41; 95% CI = 11.96-17.48). There was no statistically significant difference in primary patency and survival without symptoms between patients treated with the anatomic and those treated with the extraanatomic approach. Practically, this means that both approaches were equally good, so that the decision about the approach should be made individually, according to the loading factors of each patient. In the case of the carotid-subclavian bypass, according to our results, we recomend the use of the PTFE graft.

[Long-term results after elective and emergency surgery of abdominal aortic aneurysm]. / Udaljeni rezultati elektivnih i urgentnih operacija aneurizme abdomenske aorte.

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal aortic aneurysm can be repaired by elective procedure while asymptomatic, or immediately when it is complicated--mostly due to rupture. Treating abdominal aneurysm electively, before it becomes urgent, has medical and economical reason. Today, the first month mortality after elective operations of the abdominal aorta aneurysm is less than 3%; on the other hand, significant mortality (25%-70%) has been recorded in patients operated immediately because of rupture of the abdominal aneurysm. In addition, the costs of elective surgical treatment are significantly lower. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to compare long-term survival of patients that underwent elective or immediate repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (due to rupture), and to find out the factors influencing the long-term survival of these patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Through retrospective review of prospectively collected data of the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases of Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, 56 patients that had elective surgery and 35 patients that underwent urgent operation due to rupture of abdominal aneurysm were followed up. Only the patients that survived 30 postoperative days were included in this review, and-were followed up (ranging from 2 to 126 months). Electively operated patients were followed during 58.82 months on the average (range 7 to 122), and urgently operated were followed over 52.26 months (range 2 to 126). There was no significant difference of the length of postoperative follow-up between these two groups. RESULTS: During this period, out of electively operated and immediately operated patients, 27 and 22 cases died, respectively. There was no significant difference (p>0.05a) of long-term survival between these two groups. Obesity and early postoperative complications significantly decreased long-term survival of both electively and immediately operated patients. Graft infection, ventral hernia, aneurysm of peripheral arteries and other vascular reconstructive procedures were the factors that significantly reduced long-term survival of patients operated immediately due to rupture. DISCUSSION: This comprehensive study has searched for more factors than others had done before. The applied discriminative analysis numerically evaluated the influence of any risk factor of mortality. These factors were divided in three groups as follows: preoperative, operative and postoperative ones. Preoperative factors were sex, age, diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, obesity, COPD, and naturally, the indication for operative treatment of ruptured or non-ruptured abdominal aneurysm. Among all these factors, only obesity significantly reduced long-term survival of electively operated patients. It may be said that immediately operated patients who survived the first 30 postoperative days had quite good long-term survival. Operative factors such as type of operative procedure and vascular graft had no influence on long-term survival of patients in both groups. Postoperative risk factors were early postoperative complications, graft infection, symptomatic cerebrovascular disease, carotid endarterectomy, myocardial revascularization, ventral hernias, "other" non vascular operations, malignancy, mental disorders, peripheral aneurysms and occlusive vascular disease, and other vascular operations either due to aneurysm or peripheral occlusive disease. Early postoperative complications (even graft infection) had no significant effect on long-term survival. Ventral hernias and peripheral aneurysms were factors that significantly decreased long-term survival of patients operated for rupture of the abdominal aneurysm. CONCLUSION: It is interesting that endarterectomy, myocardial revascularization or malignancy after repair of the abdominal aneurysm (ruptured or non-ruptured) had no effect on long-term survival.