Kidney transplant artery and vein stenting: 15-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: We would like to present an unusual case of simultaneous stenosis of renal graft artery and vein diagnosed four months after transplantation. both treated by stent placement. Our aim is to point at the fact that renal graft venous stenosis is very rarely reported in the literature and - as it is not easy to diagnose by routine US - it could be overlooked. If early detected it can be treated by stent placement. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of 36-old-male with renal failure who received a kidney graft from deceased donor. The patient experienced delayed graft function. No rejection was found in the biopsy. Four months after transplantation the kidney function deteriorated to sCr 280 µmol/l. Graft artery stenosis together with graft vein stenosis was revealed. Both lesions were dilated with stent placement, the graft function returned to 230 µmol/l and became stable for 10 years. Ten years after stent placement graft function deteriorated to 300 µmol/l. An in stent restenosis of arterial stent was detected. It was successfully dilated by the balloon, the graft function returned to 230 µmol/l and stays stable for another 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: An unusual simultaneous transplanted kidney artery and vein stenosis treated by stent placement is presented. The patient had stable graft function for 15 years after the procedure with one re-intervention on arterial stent.

Impact of the Ceiling-Mounted Radiation Shielding Position on the Physician's Dose from Scatter Radiation during Interventional Procedures.

The effect of the ceiling-mounted radiation shielding on the amount of the scatter radiation was assessed under conditions simulating obese patients for clinically relevant exposure parameters. Measurements were performed in different projections and with different positions of the ceiling-mounted shielding: without shielding; shielding closest to the patient; and shielding closest to the physician performing the procedure. The protection provided by the shielding was assessed for cardiology when the femoral access is used and for radiology when the physician performs the procedure in the abdominal area. The results show that the use of the ceiling-mounted shielding can decrease the dose from the scatter radiation by 95% at the position of the performing physician. In cardiology, the impact is more pronounced when the left oblique projection is used. In radiology, a large decrease was observed for right oblique projections, compared to cardiology. The ceiling-mounted shielding should be placed as close to the physician as possible. The idea of creating the largest radiation shadow by placing the radiation shielding as close to the patient as possible does not provide as effective radiation protection of the operator as it might be thought.

PTA of infrapopliteal arteries: long-term clinical follow-up and analysis of factors influencing clinical outcome.

This study was a retrospective analysis of patients with CLI who underwent infrapopliteal percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). The main goal was to evaluate clinical and morphological factors that influence the clinical outcome of PTA in long-term follow-up. A total of 1,445 PTA procedures were performed in 1,268 patients. Main indications for PTA included gangrene, nonhealing ulcers, or rest pain. The mean number of treated arteries was 1.77 artery/limb, and the majority of lesions were type TASC D. The technical success rate of PTA was 89% of intended-to-treat arteries. The main criterion of clinical success was functional limb salvage (LS). One-year follow-up involved 1,069 limbs. Primary and secondary 1-year LS rates were 76.1 and 84.4%, respectively. The effect of clinical and morphological parameters on the 1-year LS was that the only associated disease with an adverse effect on LS rate was DM combined with dialysis. Regarding limb preprocedural status, gangrene was clearly a negative predictor. The most important factor affecting LS was the number of patent arteries post-PTA: patients with 0, 1, 2, and 3 patent arteries had 1-year primary LS rates of 56.4, 73.1, 80.4, and 83%, respectively. Long-term follow-up of LS rates demonstrated secondary LS rates of 84.4, 78.8, and 73.3% at 1, 5, and 10 years. Every effort should be made to perform PTA for as many arteries as possible, even if TASC D type, to improve clinical outcome. Our study shows that repeat PTA is capable of keeping the long-term LS rate close to 75%.

Assessment of left ventricular function in non-dilated and dilated hearts: comparison of contrast-enhanced 2-dimensional echocardiography with multi-detector row CT angiography.

OBJECTIVE: Multidetector-row CT (MDCT) and contrast-enhanced echocardiography (CEE) are being increasingly used for assessment of left ventricular (LV) function. Excellent spatial and contrast resolution of MDCT allows this evaluation along with coronary angiography. CEE improves the accuracy of 2D echocardiography. Data on side-by-side comparison of both techniques for assessment of LV size and function in subjects with a non-dilated or dilated left ventricle are limited. METHODS AND RESULTS: Our study population included 64 patients. Group I included 31 patients with an implanted pacemaker who had a non-dilated left ventricle with preserved systolic function. Group II comprised 33 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and severe systolic LV dysfunction. LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (LVEDV, LVESV) and ejection fraction (LVEF) were assessed using both CEE and short-axis MDCT. The results obtained by both techniques were compared by linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis. Additionally, intra- and interobserver reproducibility was assessed. Both CEE and MDCT measurements highly correlated (r = 0.61-0.94). However, CEE significantly underestimated LVEDV and LVESV, and this bias was higher with enlarged LV volumes. LVEF was overestimated by CEE in both groups with a higher bias in the group with preserved systolic function. Both intra- and interobserver reproducibility was significantly better for MDCT, the worst reproducibility was observed for CEE in group I. CONCLUSION: Despite a high correlation between MDCT and CEE measurements, CEE provides consistently lower volumes and higher LVEF. This suggests that both methods are not completely interchangeable. Reproducibility of CEE is inferior to reproducibility of MDCT, especially in non-dilated left ventricles with preserved function.

A complex anomaly of systemic and pulmonary venous return associated with sinus venosus atrial septal defect.

This report describes a rare case of anomalous systemic and pulmonary venous return that was surgically corrected. It consisted of left inferior vena cava with hemiazygous continuation into the persistent left superior vena cava, partial anomalous pulmonary venous return from the right lung and sinus venosus atrial septal defect.