Cryoplasty for occlusive disease of the femoropopliteal arteries: 1-year follow-up.

Atherosclerosis of femoropopliteal arteries is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) has only limited success in treating these arteries, mainly because of the high rate of recurrent stenosis. Cryoplasty has been proposed as a technique which might improve treatment outcome. This study reports our single-center experience with cryoplasty. Thirty-two claudicants, 33 arteries, in whom conservative therapy failed, were consecutively included. Duplex ultrasound (US), angiography, and ankle-brachial index (ABI) measurement were performed before the procedure; ABI and duplex US, 2 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months after the procedure. Patients' symptoms were categorized according to the Rutherford classification. Lesions were classified as TASC A, B, or C according to angiographic appearance. Differences in ABI before and after the procedure were defined as significant at p < 0.05 by paired t-test. Patency was evaluated using duplex US by determining the peak systolic velocity ratio. Sixteen TASC A lesions, 13 TASC B lesions, and 4 TASC C lesions were included. ABI improved significantly for TASC A lesions 2 weeks and 3 months postprocedure. Patency after 2 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months was 93%, 67%, and 64% for TASC A lesions, 83%, 31%, and 31% for TASC B lesions, and 100%, 50%, and 33% for TASC C lesions, respectively. In conclusion, cryoplasty has good immediate success rates and patency rates similar to the results of conventional PTA in the literature.

False lumen thrombectomy of the superior mesenteric artery followed by iliomesenteric bypass after Stanford type B aortic dissection.

A 55-year-old man with an acute Stanford type B aortic dissection presented with clinical signs of mesenteric ischemia. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a thrombosed false lumen in the superior mesenteric artery. At laparotomy, the dissection was found to be extending into the jejunal branches and medial colic artery. Thrombus was removed from the false lumen, and perfusion was restored with an iliomesenteric bypass, with the dissected layers tacked together in the suture line. A postoperative CT scan showed a stable diameter of the thoracoabdominal aorta and a patent iliomesenteric bypass.

Endovascular repair of a type B aortic dissection with transposition of a coexistent aberrant subclavian (lusorian) artery.

PURPOSE: To report the endovascular treatment of a relatively uncommon entity: an aortic type B dissection combined with an aberrant subclavian artery (SA). CASE REPORT: A 59-year-old patient was admitted with chest pain and interscapular back pain. A transesophageal ultrasound and magnetic resonance angiography revealed a type B aortic dissection originating at the level of an aberrant SA orifice. After failure of medical therapy, the dissection was treated by transluminal implantation of an Excluder stent-graft covering the entry site of the dissection at the aberrant SA orifice. Prior to the endovascular procedure, a transposition of the aberrant SA to the right carotid artery was performed through a supraclavicular approach. The patient remains asymptomatic at 19 months after the endovascular repair. CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular repair of a type B aortic dissection in the presence of a lusorian artery appears to be a feasible, safe, and less invasive alternative to conventional surgery. The need for concurrent transposition of the SA remains to be determined.