Two-year outcome with preferential use of infrainguinal angioplasty for critical ischemia.

OBJECTIVE: Infrainguinal angioplasty provides a minimally invasive alternative to bypass surgery in patients with critical ischemia. This study aimed to determine the 2-year patency, limb salvage, and survival rates in patients who underwent infrainguinal angioplasty in a unit where angioplasty is used preferentially whenever possible for critical ischemia. METHODS: A total of 333 consecutive patients who presented with rest pain, tissue loss, or both and who underwent an infrainguinal intervention in the 4-year period between January 1998 and January 2002 were divided into femoropopliteal and femorodistal groups. The TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus angiogram scoring system was used to classify the lesions. Angioplasty was the preferred procedure in all patients for whom a stump or portion of a superficial femoral artery was patent. Exclusion criteria included the concomitant or sequential treatment of iliac lesions. Patients were followed up after surgery with ankle-brachial indices and duplex ultrasonography. RESULTS: A total of 180 patients underwent 198 angioplasties. Primary cumulative patency, limb salvage, and survival for femoropopliteal angioplasty (n = 166) at 2 years were 75%, 90%, and 88%, respectively, and 60%, 76%, and 82% for infrapopliteal angioplasty (n = 32). At 30 days, mortality was 2.7%, and the complication rate was 8.3%. There was a restenosis rate (>50%) of 68% and 65% at 2 years for the femoropopliteal and infrapopliteal angioplasty groups, respectively. Seven patients required repeat angioplasty of the same site, 30 underwent subsequent bypass, and 16 of 43 occluded limbs were amputated. A total of 153 comparative control patients underwent 162 bypass procedures during the same period. Primary cumulative patency, limb salvage, and survival for femoropopliteal bypass (n = 80) at 2 years were 69%, 87%, and 76%, respectively, and were 53%, 57%, and 64% for infrapopliteal bypass (n = 82). The 30-day mortality for bypass was 5.2%, the complication rate was 35%, and 31 limbs were amputated. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study on the intermediate-term outcome of angioplasty suggest that angioplasty, when used preferentially for critical ischemia, in anatomically suitable patients provides very acceptable limb salvage and survival despite a relatively high restenosis rate.

Stroke after varicose vein foam injection sclerotherapy.

This report describes an ischemic stroke after foam injection sclerotherapy of varicose veins in a patient with a patent foramen ovale. Foam injection sclerotherapy has created resurgence in the minimally invasive treatment of varicose veins. The United States Food and Drug Administration halted a clinical phase 2 trial of a commercial preparation of polidocanol microfoam in 2003 because of concerns relating to possible gas embolism. These trials were recommenced in July 2005. Neurologic complications such as transient visual disturbances and transient confusional states have previously been reported. This case, with its strong circumstantial evidence, illustrates the previously unconfirmed potential for embolic complications using this technique.

Tumor embolus: a case report and review of the literature.

Peripheral embolization of macroscopic tumor fragments is an uncommon occurrence. A patient with a previously undiagnosed primary lung adenocarcinoma who presented with an acutely ischemic limb is described. Following review of the literature, the characteristics of tumor embolization are discussed.

Operative and endovascular management of extracranial vertebral artery aneurysm in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome:a clinical dilemma--case report and literature review.

The most prevalent lesion of the vertebral artery is an atheromatous plaque located at its origin from the subclavian artery. A case of successful management of a symptomatic vertebral artery aneurysm due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is reported. The patient had asymptomatic posterior intracerebral artery dissection on the contralateral side. A common carotid artery to V-3 segment bypass using reversed saphenous vein graft was carried out. Avulsion of the V-2 segment occurred peroperatively and endovascular coil embolization of the vertebral artery aneurysm was performed. Endovascular equipment and training must be in the armamentarium of vascular surgeons as more complex cases are being treated, which demands new approaches for ultimate clinical success. This unique case outlines what might unexpectedly occur. Endovascular intervention as an adjuvant procedure provides a satisfactory outcome in what could have been a catastrophe.

Endovascular management of a pancreaticoduodenal aneurysm: a clinical dilemma.

PURPOSE: To report the successful endovascular embolization of a pancreaticoduodenal aneurysm (PDA). CASE REPORT: A 56-year-old man with a history of pancreatitis presented with insidious, progressive epigastric pain for the preceding 6 months. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and selective hepatic digital subtraction angiography identified a 7.7-cm aneurysm that arose from the pancreaticoduodenal branch of the gastroduodenal artery. Through a percutaneous common femoral approach, 10 stainless steel coils were delivered to occlude the aneurysm. A single coil detached and became lodged in a small branch of the right hepatic artery without sequelae. At 26 months, duplex and CT scans show continued occlusion of the aneurysm. CONCLUSIONS: Transcatheter coil embolization should be the first choice treatment for aneurysms of the pancreaticoduodenal artery.