Pancreas sparing duodenectomy and aortic reconstruction with custom-made bovine pericardial tubular graft for primary aorto duodenal fistula. Case report.

Primary aorto-duodenal fistula (PADF) is a rare life-threatening condition consisting in a direct communication between the abdominal aorta and the gastrointestinal tract without any previous vascular intervention. PADF results most commonly from an abdominal aortic aneurism (AAA) or aortic bacterial/mycotic infection, with the fistula forming between the native aorta and the third or fourth portion of the duodenum. Symptoms are nonspecific and the diagnosis is often delayed after AAA rupture with high rate of morbidity and mortality. We present a case of 69-year-old-male with a history of untreated abdominal aortic aneurysm who came to the attention of the emergency department for Abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture (RAAA). The patient was successfully treated with staged therapy: endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) to control hemorrhage rapidly, followed by pancreas sparing duodenectomy and aortic reconstruction with xenopericardial tube grafts. KEY WORDS: Biological graft, Bovine pericardial tubular graft, Primary aorto-duodenal fistula, Pancreas sparing duodenectomy.

Chronic kidney disease and prognosis in elderly patients with cardiovascular disease: Comparison between CKD-EPI and Berlin Initiative Study-1 formulas.

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is frequent in patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease and impacts prognosis in these subjects. While current guidelines recommend the CKD-EPI equation for the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and recognizing CKD, a new creatinine-based equation - the Berlin Initiative Study-1 (BIS-1) - was generated for elders with a high prevalence of CV disease. We assessed whether BIS-1 provided more accurate risk stratification than the CKD-EPI equation in unselected aged patients with CV disease. METHODS: Patients aged ≥70 years who were seen consecutively at the Cardiovascular Centre of Trieste (Italy) between November 2009 and October 2013 were recruited into this study. The correlation and agreement between the BIS-1 and CKD-EPI formulas were evaluated and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were computed in order to estimate the correlation between the two formulas. Patients were followed for all-cause death, composite outcomes of all-cause death/all-cause hospitalization and all-cause death/CV hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 7845 subjects met the inclusion criteria for this study. GFR as estimated with the BIS-1 and the CKD-EPI equation was highly correlated (ICC: 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.79-0.82; p < 0.0001). When allocating patients in Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes classes of eGFR, compared to CKD-EPI, the BIS-1 formula reclassified 2720 (34.7%) patients: 53 (1.9%) were placed in a better class and 2667 (98.1%) were placed in a worse class. Multivariable Cox models showed that BIS-1 compared to CKD-EPI had a significantly better accuracy for predicting death (NRI: 0.12; 95% CI: 0.03-0.19; p = 0.001), death/CV hospitalization (net reclassification improvement [NRI]: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.27-0.38; p < 0.001) and death/all-cause hospitalization (NRI: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.06-0.21; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The BIS-1 formula is better than the CKD-EPI formula for risk stratification of CKD in elderly people with CV disease.

Clinical outcome of patients with de novo coronary bifurcation lesions treated with the Tryton Side Branch Stent. The SAFE-TRY prospective multicenter single arm study.

BACKGROUND: Coronary bifurcation lesions represent a difficult problem regularly confronting interventional cardiologist, in part due to the lack of dedicated device. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of the Tryton Side Branch Stent (Tryton Medical, Durham, NC, USA), a dedicated bare metal stent deployed in conjunction with a standard drug-eluting stent to treat bifurcation lesions. METHODS: The SAFE-TRY is a prospective single arm multicenter registry including patients with de novo bifurcation lesions in native coronary arteries and syntax score <32. The primary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF) at 30 days that comprised cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction and clinically driven target vessel revascularization. Secondary endpoints included device, angiographic and procedural success, 9-month major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE), and stent thrombosis (ST) rates (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01174433). RESULTS: Among 252 enrolled patients, 24% had diabetes and 35.3% unstable angina. True bifurcation lesions involving both branches occurred in 96.8% of cases with Medina classification 1.1.1 in 62%. The left anterior descending artery and the left main were treated in 70% and 8.3% of the patients, respectively. A 6 Fr guide catheter was used in 61% of the cases. Device, angiographic and procedural success rates were 99.6%, 99.6% and 97.2% respectively. The 30-day TVF was 2.8%; the 9-month MACCE rate was 13.7%, with target lesion revascularization being 4.4%. No definite ST occurred. CONCLUSIONS: This prospective, multicenter study confirmed the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of the Tryton Side Branch Stent to treat patients with de novo complex bifurcation lesions.

Anatomical and electrophysiological approach to atrial fibrillation ablation: technical limitations.

OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary vein (PV) disconnection by radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation has been reported to cure atrial fibrillation (AF). Different techniques have been proposed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical limitations of both anatomical and electrophysiological approaches. METHODS: A total of 110 PVs were ablated in 26 consecutive patients (23 male, 3 female, mean age 51 +/- 9.5 years) with paroxysmal (n = 19, 73%), persistent (n = 3, 12%) or permanent (n = 4, 15%) AF. Accurate reconstructions of the PV ostia were obtained using fluoroscopy, electrophysiology, and the CARTO mapping system. Electrophysiological mapping was attempted in all PVs by means of a decapolar circular catheter. RF ablation was performed in a single-blind fashion in order to anatomically create circumferential lines around each PV. Completeness of anatomically-guided, circumferential RF lesions around the PVs was established by the physician using the CARTO system, who was unaware of the decapolar circular catheter electrophysiological recordings of the PVs. If PV potentials persisted, RF delivery was targeted to the electrophysiological breakthroughs. RESULTS: All PV ostia were anatomically ablated by performing circumferential RF lesions. Among 110 PVs, 73 (66%) were fully mapped by use of circular catheters. After anatomical ablation, electrical disconnection was achieved in 44/73 PVs (60%). In the remaining 29 PVs (40%), a median of one RF pulse (mean 1.8 +/- 1.4) was necessary to achieve complete PV disconnection. Total procedure duration, fluoroscopy time, and RF delivery time were 232 +/- 29, 50 +/- 16 and 39 +/- 11 min, respectively. Pericardial effusion occurred in one patient after the procedure. After 10.5 +/- 6.4 months, 21 patients (81%) were in stable sinus rhythm and 13 of them (62%) discontinued all drugs after 6 months. Only 4 patients (15%) required two procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Electrical PV disconnection cannot be achieved in many PVs by means of a pure anatomical approach. On the other hand, electrophysiological mapping cannot be performed in many PVs owing to anatomical variations. An integrated approach might overcome these limitations.