Acute aortobiliac graft thrombosis.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Acute limb ischemia after infrarenal aortic repair is a rare complication, which in mainly described to appear in a short time after surgery.The aim of this paper is to describe a case of a 66-year-old woman who presented at out attention with acute right limb ischemia, one year later an aortic repair for acute abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture. In the best of our knowledge there are no cases of sudden graft occlusion after such long time, described in literature. CASE PRESENTATION: Patient presented with sudden pain and pallor in the right lower limb and subsequently same symptoms to the left lower limb. One year before she underwent an emergency repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture with an aortobiliac graft. Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) scan showed a complete occlusion of the infrarenal aorta, including aortoiliac graft, to the common bilateral iliac arteries. On the right side was also found a complete occlusion of the popliteal artery.Emergent embolectomy of the right popliteal artery via the femoral artery was performed. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: CTA scan performed on third post-operative day showed the patency of infrarenal aorta and aortic portion of the grafts in presence of floating thrombus, right iliac branch patency and chronic occlusion of left iliac branch. A kinking of both graft iliac branches was evident after this CTA scan. CTA scan at one month demonstrated resolution of the thrombosis of the infrarenal aorta, complete patency of aortic portion of the graft and right iliac branch and chronic obstruction of the left common iliac artery. CONCLUSION: Acute limb ischemia caused by sudden graft occlusion one year later an aortic repair for acute abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture is a very rare event. Graft limbs kinking could explain acute thrombosis of the graft.

A systematic review of contralateral carotid stenosis progression after carotid endarterectomy.

OBJECTIVE: Progression of contralateral carotid artery stenosis after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has been described by several authors. The aim of this study is to determine such disease progression and its related transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) or strokes by reviewing the existing literature. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature review to select randomized controlled trials and observational studies reporting outcomes of patients treated by CEA and with concomitant contralateral carotid stenosis, regardless its degree of stenosis. The study was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019127595). The primary study end point was the progression of contralateral carotid artery stenosis after CEA, and the secondary end point was incidence of TIAs and strokes owing to contralateral carotid stenosis. RESULTS: Seventeen studies were retrieved, reporting data on a total of 7679 patients who had undergone CEA, in particular they were one post hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial, nine prospective, and seven retrospective observational studies. Among these patients, follow-up information on the contralateral carotid artery was available for 5454 cases. Disease progression was observed in 18% of patients: single class progression from mild (<50%) and from moderate (50%-70%) stenosis was observed in 15% and 23% of cases, respectively. We found 105 TIAs (4%) and 88 strokes (3%) among 2781 patients with stenosis progression, based on result from 11 studies. CONCLUSIONS: We found a progression of contralateral carotid stenosis in a significant number of patients treated with CEA and with baseline carotid stenosis. This systematic literature review suggests that patients with moderate contralateral carotid stenosis demonstrate more rapid progression to significant or symptomatic stenosis than patients with mild contralateral stenosis.

Giant Brachial Aneurysm after Arteriovenous Fistula Ligation: A Review of the Different Surgical Approaches.

The aim of this paper is to describe the case of a patient successfully treated for left brachial arterial aneurysm occurring 15 years after renal transplantation and consequent 8 years after arteriovenous fistula (AVF) ligation. We describe our experience and our surgical approach. A 45-year-old man presented to our attention for a large pulsatile formation on the volatile face of the left forearm, which he reported to have enlarged in the last year. He had a history of chronic renal impairment in 2000, then AVF for dialysis was realized, and he was finally addressed to kidney transplantation in 2004. In 2011 the AVF was ligated. We observed absence of radial pulse and direct flow on the ulnar artery; a large pulsatile formation was evident along the course of the left brachial artery, associated with forearm venous dilatation. Doppler ultrasound showed fusiform aneurysm of the brachial artery with 3.5 cm diameter and longitudinal extension of 5 cm up to the brachial bifurcation. We removed the brachial aneurysm, with a venous bypass on the ulnar artery. The patient was discharged in good general condition on the second postoperative day. At 1- and 6-month follow-up he had complete recovery with graft patency, without any neurological impairment and with a good esthetic result. An open surgical repair with great saphenous vein interposition seems to be the best choice in terms of patency and perioperative morbidity.

Multimodal Neurophysiological Monitoring Reduces Shunt Incidence during Carotid Endarterectomy.

BACKGROUND: The use of shunt during carotid surgery is controversial. Different experiences are found in literature with transcranial Doppler (TCD), electroencephalogram (EEG), stump pressure (SP), and somatosensorial evoked potentials (SSEP). METHODS: We realized a retrospective analysis of patients treated with carotid endarterectomy in our unit in the last 2 years. We use several cerebral monitoring: until 2017 we preferred SP + TCD, and, if not available, EEG. Since 2017 we introduced EEG with SSEP, always in association with SP. We analyzed those 2 groups of patients: before and after introduction of EEG with SSEP. RESULTS: From January 2016 to December 2018 we performed 156 carotid revascularizations. In the first group of 93 patients treated under combined SP + TCD (or EEG), we observed 1 stroke (1.1%) and 2 transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) (2.1%); we selectively used a shunt in 21 cases (22.5%). In the second group, 63 patients had an SP + EEG with SSEP monitoring; we observed 1 stroke (1.5%) and 2 TIAs (3.1%), a shunt was necessary in 12 cases (12.9%). CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, EEG with SSEP represents an effective parameter to indicate shunt positioning, as we were able to reduce its use, with the same incidence of stroke and TIA.

Short non-patch arteriotomy in carotid endarterectomy.

BACKGROUND: Several techniques of carotid endarterectomy have been described and currently used in clinical practice. We describe and report the midterm results of short non-patch arteriotomy technique. METHODS: We analyzed patients treated at our Department for carotid artery stenosis. Main outcomes were mortality, stroke, restenosis and local complications. The technique consists in a short longitudinal arteriotomy from common carotid artery to internal (ICA), followed by thromboendarterectomy in carotid bulb with a blunt spatula, cutting the more proximal edge of the plaque. A semi-eversion is then performed in the ICA to fully remove carotid plaque. RESULTS: In the period between years 2011-2016 we performed 476 carotid endarterectomies of which 436 with short non-patch arteriotomy. Mean clamping time was 15.5±5.7 minutes. In-hospital complications were: three cases of stroke (0.7%), all with complete recovery, four transient cerebral ischemia (0.9%), 14 cervical hematomas (3.2%), and four cranial nerve injuries (0.9%), which was in all cases completely regressed. At two years, we report six cases of carotid restenosis (1.4%), all treated with carotid stenting. CONCLUSIONS: Short non-patch carotid endarterectomy technique resulted in a low mid-term rates of stroke, restenosis, and cranial nerve injuries compared to other surgical series in the literature.

An update in varicose vein pathology after ten years of endovenous laser therapy (EVLT) with a 980 nm diode laser: clinical experience of a single center.

AIM: To show our experience in the surgical treatment of superficial vein insufficiency of the lower limbs. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Since 2002 we have performed 659 procedures of endovascular laser therapy (EVLT) (group A) in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency of the great saphenous vein using a 980 nm diode laser. A closely matched group of 100 patients (50 Group A, 50 Group B) with homogeneous clinical findings (CEAP classification) was controlled with a mean follow-up of 18 months in our more recent experience (3 years). Most patients operated on in this period were lost to follow-up. RESULTS: The Final results showed that EVLT can be used only in a specific selected group of cases based on anatomy and hemodynamics and while 980 nm EVLT could not be selected as the best treatment for this pathology, it could be placed side by side with conventional therapy. CONCLUSIONS: In our one year's more recent experience, we observed an increased number of patients treated with conventional therapy. The development of new laser tools (new wavelengths and continuous radial laser) and the improvement of clinical follow up may lead us to a more correct application of EVLT in the absence of randomized trials because of widespread clinical findings and poor pathological follow-up of this approach to superficial venous insufficiency.

Assessing gastrointestinal symptoms and perception, quality of life, motility, and autonomic neuropathy in clinical studies.

Imprecise characterization of complaints of the upper and lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract puts patients at risks of either a delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis and contributes to an increase in the overall direct and indirect costs of the health system. The current scenario in the case of functional GI diseases originates from at least two conditions: frequency of diseases and bothersome symptoms with an impact on the quality of life (QoL). To make a correct diagnosis is therefore almost mandatory. Once a positive diagnosis of functional involvement of the GI tract is made, the correct diagnosis assessment includes the study of symptom characteristics, entity and perception, detection of abnormal patterns of GI motor-function (gallblader and gastric emptying, oro-cecal and colonic transit, etc.), potential involvement of the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic, parasympathetic), and overall impact of such abnormalities on the QoL and psychological profiles. Results of these tests can be variable, depending on the type and intensity of the illness. In the present review, the state-of-the-art methods for correct assessment of several factors regarding the onset, perpetuation and outcome of functional GI diseases are discussed.