[Vascular surgery in old people]. / Gefäßchirurgie bei alten Menschen.

The age pyramid in Germany is upside down. According to the Federal Statistical Office this development will continue in the coming years, which presents a challenge for surgeons to surgically treat increasingly more and increasingly older people. Particularly in vascular surgery, which is a surgery of old people, this fact represents a special challenge. The frailty of old people is, among other things, due to a series of comorbidities, which must be taken into consideration within the framework of surgical treatment. They can have an important influence on the perioperative planning, the operation, the postoperative treatment and the outcome of the patient. This treatment planning becomes more and more challenging, because due to the progress in endovascular surgery there will soon be no limits to what is feasible; however, the question arises whether the feasible is also reasonable? Within the scope of this article the authors try to give answers to the treatment of old patients in vascular surgery and to find strategies for planning and to establish an individualized optimal treatment.

Abdominal incision defect following AAA-surgery (AIDA): 2-year results of prophylactic onlay-mesh augmentation in a multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial.

The reported incidence of incisional hernia following repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) via midline laparotomy is up to 69%. This prospective, multicenter, double-blind, randomised controlled trial was conducted at eleven hospitals in Germany. Patients aged 18 years or older undergoing elective AAA-repair via midline incision were randomly assigned using a computer-generated randomisation sequence to one of three groups for fascial closure: with long-term absorbable suture (MonoPlus®, group I), long-term absorbable suture and onlay mesh reinforcement (group II) or extra long-term absorbable suture (MonoMax®, group III). The primary endpoint was the incidence of incisional hernia within 24 months of follow-up, analysed by intention to treat. Physicians conducting the postoperative visits and the patients were blinded. Between February 2011 and July 2013, 104 patients (69.8 ± 7.7 years) were randomised, 99 of them received a study intervention. The rate of incisional hernia within 24 months was not significantly reduced with onlay mesh augmentation compared to primary suture (p = 0.290). Furthermore, the rate of incisional hernia did not differ significantly between fascial closure with slow and extra long-term absorbable suture (p = 0.111). Serious adverse events related to study intervention occurred in five patients (5.1%) from treatment groups II and III. Wound healing disorders were more frequently seen after onlay mesh implantation on the day of discharge (p = 0.010) and three (p = 0.009) and six (p = 0.023) months postoperatively. The existing evidence on prophylactic mesh augmentation in patients undergoing AAA-repair via midline laparotomy probably needs critical review. As the implementation of new RCTs is considered difficult due to the increasing number of endovascular AAA treated, registry studies could help to collect and evaluate data in cases of open AAA-repair. Comparisons between prophylactic mesh implantation and the small bite technique are also required. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01353443. Funding Sources: Aesculap AG, Tuttlingen, Germany.

Erratum to: Complex endovascular treatment of intact aortic aneurysms. An analysis of health insurance claims data.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s00772-018-0387-7.].

Staged procedures for prevention of spinal cord ischemia in endovascular aortic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Spinal cord ischemia with development of paraplegia is the most relevant complication of thoracoabdominal aortic surgery caused by compromising the segmental arteries. To prevent this devastating complication in endovascular aortic surgery, staging procedures have been developed to reinforce collateral blood flood to the spinal cord. RESULTS: In patients with a medium to high risk for spinal cord ischemia, staged aortic repair is recommended. The classical staged repair is the two-step repair with delayed implantation of the aortic stent grafts. Additionally, more recent methods for short-term salvage of segmental artery perfusion by leaving an endoleak have been developed. Perfusion branches, delayed bridging stents as well as the open branch technique are among these methods. The latest option of staged repair is minimally invasive segmental artery embolization. CONCLUSION: Besides the nonsurgical options for monitoring and therapy of spinal cord ischemia, various staging procedures are available, which can be implemented depending on the patient and the aortic anatomy. Evidence that underlines staged repair for endovascular treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic pathologies is mostly based on retrospective studies.

Complex endovascular treatment of intact aortic aneurysms: An analysis of health insurance claims data.

BACKGROUND: The complex endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms and dissections with fenestrated or branched stent grafts (FB-EVAR) remains challenging for interventional vascular surgery. To date, the evidence regarding treatment patterns and outcome measures consists of single center studies; however, it might be reasonable to validate results with multicenter real-world evidence. METHODS: Health insurance claims data from Germany's third largest insurance provider, DAK-Gesundheit, were used to determine outcomes following FB-EVAR of non-ruptured thoracic aorta (TA) or thoracoabdominal including pararenal abdominal (TAA) aorta. The study included patients operated between January 2008 and April 2017. RESULTS: Included were 984 patients (18.1% female) who underwent FB-EVAR. Patients with treatment of the TA were younger (71.7 vs. 73.2 years, p < 0.001) and more often female (38.5% vs. 17.0%, p < 0.001) as compared to patients with treatment of TAA. In the TA group peripheral arterial disease was less frequent compared to the TAA group (67.3% vs. 80.4%, p = 0.036). Mortality was significantly (p < 0.001) higher following repair of the TAA compared to the TA at discharge (17.3% vs. 4.6%), at 30 days (26.9% vs. 8.2%) and at 90 days (34.6% vs. 10.1%). Patients with treatment of the TAA suffered more often from stroke as compared to the TA group (7.7% vs. 1.2%, p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: In this large-scale German analysis of claims data, multicenter real-world evidence was different from single center studies regarding patient risk-factors and outcome measures. Validated multicenter registry studies could help to further investigate this topic in times of increasing procedures.

I-SWOT as instrument to individually optimize therapy of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms: Effective, norm-compliant and meeting the needs.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines summarize medical evidence, they identify the most efficient therapy under study conditions and recommend this therapy for use. The physician now has the challenge to translate a therapy that is efficient under laboratory conditions to a patient who is an individual person. To accomplish this task the physician has to make sure that (I) the ideal typical therapy is applicable and effective in this individual patient taking the special features into consideration, that (II) therapy is compliant with the norm including guidelines, laws and ethical requirements (conformity) and that (III) the therapy meets the patient's needs. OBJECTIVE: How can physicians together with the patients translate the medical evidence into an individually optimized therapy? MATERIAL AND METHODS: At the German Aortic Center in Hamburg we use I­SWOT as an instrument to identify such individually optimized therapy. With I­SWOT, we present an instrument with which we have developed an (I) efficient, (II) conform and (III) needs-oriented therapeutic strategy for individual patients. RESULTS: I-SWOT cross-tabulates strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) related to therapy with opportunities (O) and threats (T) related to individual patients. This I­SWOT matrix identifies four fundamental types of strategy, which comprise "SO" maximizing strengths and opportunities, "WT" minimizing weaknesses and threats, "WO" minimizing weaknesses and maximizing opportunities and "ST" maximizing strengths and minimizing threats. We discuss the case of a patient with asymptomatic thoracoabdominal aneurysm to show how I­SWOT is used to identify an individually optimized therapy strategy.

Editor's Choice - Subsequent Results for Arch Aneurysm Repair with Inner Branched Endografts.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to evaluate the current results of aortic arch aneurysm repair using inner branched endografts performed in three high volume aortic endovascular centers and to compare them to the pioneering global experience with this technology. METHODS: Included patients underwent repair of aortic arch aneurysms >55 mm in diameter using inner branched endograft technology between April 2013 and November 2014. All patients were deemed unfit for open surgery. Inner branches were designed to perfuse the brachiocephalic trunk and the left common carotid artery in all cases. A left subclavian artery (LSA) revascularization was performed prior to the arch endovascular repair. Data were collected retrospectively in an electronic database. Parameters included length of procedure, fluoroscopy time, contrast volume, technical success, presence of endoleaks, early and late complications, and mortality. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients were included in the study. Technical success was achieved in all cases. No patients died during the 30 day post-operative period. Early neurologic events included two major strokes (7.4%) and one minor stroke (3.7%). Transient spinal cord ischemia with full recovery was observed in two patients (7.4%). Four patients (14.8%) underwent early (<30 day) re-interventions; these were for an access complication, an ischemic limb and exploration of the left ventricle through a sternotomy in two patients. During follow up (median 12 months), one patient (3.7%) died from a remote thoraco-abdominal aneurysm rupture. There were three Type 2 endoleaks (11.1%). Two re-interventions (7.4%) were performed, one to treat a Type 2 endoleak and one to treat a septic false aneurysm. A significant decrease in overall mortality was observed when comparing patients from the early experience with patients from the current report. CONCLUSIONS: The early outcomes associated with this technology are favorable. Branched endografting of aortic arch aneurysms should be considered in patients unfit for open surgery.

[Endovascular versus conventional vascular surgery - old-fashioned thinking? Part 1: interventions on the aorta]. / Endovaskuläre vs. konventionelle Gefäßchirurgie - antiquiertes Denken? Teil 1: Eingriffe an der Aorta.

Endovascular therapy has widely replaced conventional open vascular surgical reconstruction. For this reason both techniques were widely considered to be competing approaches. Evidence-based data from randomized prospective trials, meta-analyses and clinical registries, however, demonstrated that both techniques should be used to complement each other. It became increasingly more evident that the use of either procedure depends on the underlying disease and the anatomical conditions, whereby a combination of both (hybrid approach) may be the preferred option in certain situations. This review focuses on the treatment of complicated acute type B aortic dissection, descending thoracic aortic aneurysms, thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms as well as asymptomatic and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Modern diagnostics for type B aortic dissection.

BACKGROUND: Undifferentiated chest pain is one of the most common complaints in the acute care setting. Type B aortic dissection is an important cause of chest pain and a complex clinical entity, which carries significant morbidity and mortality and requires accurate clinical and radiological evaluation. METHODS: Imaging technologies have become an irreplaceable tool to establish the diagnosis of aortic dissection and to plan treatment strategies. Computed tomography is an important component in this process, replacing catheter-based angiography as the most commonly used preoperative and postoperative imaging modality for the thoracic aorta. The use of functional imaging methods, such as magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiography is evolving. These methods are able to provide the clinically relevant anatomical, hemodynamic and biomechanical information that is necessary for accurate diagnosis, risk stratification and patient selection for treatment. CONCLUSION: Advanced image acquisition equipment and expertise are increasingly available in a growing number of institutions and as a consequence, existing strategies for the management of type B dissection are rapidly evolving.

[Complications following aortic reconstruction surgery]. / Komplikationen nach Rekonstruktion der Aorta.

BACKGROUND: The potential complications following aortic reconstruction surgery are diverse and potentially life-threatening. Besides the well known complications of open aortic repair (OAR) the spectrum of complications has been extended and shifted by the growing use of endovascular aortic repair (EVAR). AIM: The most common complications of open as well as endovascular aortic surgery are presented in a summarizing review. The focus is placed on the presentation of cardiovascular and nephrological complications, colonic ischemia, as well as aortic graft infections and graft fistulas. Spinal ischemia and endoleaks after EVAR are also discussed. Additionally epidemiological data, risk factors and basic therapeutic principles are outlined. CONCLUSION: Aortic reconstruction surgery can be associated with severe complications, the main features of which should be known by all surgical specialties.

Chronic type B aortic dissection: indications and strategies for treatment.

Chronic type B aortic dissection is a distinctive condition that needs individual treatment strategies and different considerations than in therapy of acute or subacute type B aortic dissection. The most common indication for treatment of this complex disease is aneurysmal dilatation of the dissected aortic segment. While open repair of the enlarged dissected aorta remains the best option for good-risk patients and patients with connective tissue disorders in high-volume centers with respective expertise, endovascular management of chronic type B aortic dissection with postdissection aneurysms has significantly gained ground in the past years. But the concept of TEVAR with implantation of a tubular stent-graft into the thoracic aorta to seal the proximal entry tear and reroute the blood flow into the true lumen alone, is not associated with satisfactory results. This is mainly due to the sparse remodeling capacity of the aortic tissue compared to earlier stages of the disease as the aortic wall and the dissection membrane are thickened and more rigid. On the other hand, it is restricted by the most limiting factor for endovascular success in chronic type B aortic dissection: persistent false lumen perfusion. This problem also affects patients with residual dissection after surgical repair of a DeBakey type I aortic dissection or dissection after ascending aortic repair for other pathologies. Hence, it is evident that strategies to achieve endovascular false lumen occlusion are of increasing importance and novel techniques have been introduced to solve the problem of persisting false lumen flow. Thus, the evolution of a large variety of techniques to address the false lumen perfusion issue indicates that complicated chronic type B dissection involves a high diversity in clinical presentation and morphology. A large armamentarium of catheter skills as well as critical individualized treatment strategies are required to address the heterogenous morphological disease pattern for each individual patient. The rapid development in endovascular techniques gives new directions for treatment indications and strategies in chronic aortic dissection and enables new insights into this old disease.

[Transcardiac Access Routes for Endovascular Treatment of Ascending Aortic Pathologies]. / Transkardiale Zugangswege zur endovaskulären Versorgung der Aorta ascendens.

Gold standard for treatment of pathologies of the ascending aorta is still open surgery with extracorporal circulation in moderate to deep hypothermia. These procedures are associated with high morbidity and mortality, especially if performed in older patients or after previous cardiac surgery. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has become the preferred treatment option for thoracic aortic pathologies of the descending aorta even in high-risk patients with severe comorbidities resulting in reduced morbidity and mortality compared to open repair. Despite the continuous development of endograft technology an adequate arterial access still poses a relevant limitation of this treatment option accentuated in the proximal segments of the aorta. The transfemoral access may be limited due to severe kinking or arteriosclerotic plaque stenosis of femoral or iliac vessels. Furthermore, the long distance between femoral access vessels and the aortic lesion impairs device torsibility and exact deployment of the stent graft. To provide a practical alternative endovascular access to the ascending aorta, antegrade transcardiac access routes including transapical or transseptal techniques have recently gained increasing interest.

[Future vascular medicine: inauguration of a cardiovascular hybrid concept]. / Gefäßmedizin von morgen: Vorstellung eines kardiovaskulären Hybrid-Care-Konzepts.

The demographic developments will lead to an exponential increase of cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, technical developments of conservative and invasive treatment modalities will be added to distinguished, organ-orientated therapeutic concepts. This will also require a new orientation of vascular services. This concept implies that specific contents are referred to and contained in partner specialties. Since the heart and vascular system function as an anatomic and functional union, implementation of vascular medicine within cardiovascular centres represents a logical consequence.

[Occlusion of the aorta and iliac arteries]. / Verschlüsse der Aorta und der Beckenarterien.

Occlusion of the aorta and the iliac arteries leads to an insufficient perfusion of the legs and the genital and gluteal region. The occurring symptoms may be variable, mainly depending on the collateralization network of the internal iliac artery (IIA) circulation. Various differential diagnoses need to be excluded. Invasive therapy is almost always inevitable if an aortoiliac stenosis is established. With good patency rates and low mortality rates the indications for reconstructive procedures are liberally interpreted; therefore, invasive therapy can be performed in the early stages of claudication in certain situations. Due to lower invasiveness and therefore lower risk of complications while showing comparable long-term patency rates, endovascular treatment is the preferred first line therapy for the majority of occlusions. Because aortoiliac occlusion processes also affect patients who are actively involved in a professional career, the indications for invasive therapy can be attained even in Fontaine stage IIa.

TEVAR for chronic aortic dissection - is covering the primary entry tear enough?

Treatment-strategies for type B aortic dissection (TBAD) are rapidly developing towards endovascular treatment strategies. While TEVAR for acute TBAD shows favourable results, TEVAR in chronic TBAD following the same interventional strategies as in acute TBAD by covering the proximal entry-tear alone has shown unsatisfactory results with one third of the patients developing further false-lumen growth and mortality of 36% at 3 years. This review article describes endovascular strategies and adjunctive techniques to prevent distal false-lumen back-flow in patients with chronic TBAD, as covering the proximal entry tear has proven insufficient.

Acute aortic syndromes: definition, prognosis and treatment options.

Acute aortic syndromes (AAS) are life-threatening vascular conditions of the thoracic aorta presenting with acute pain as the leading symptom in most cases. The incidence is approximately 3-5/100,000 in western countries with increase during the past decades. Clinical suspicion for AAS requires immediate confirmation with advanced imaging modalities. Initial management of AAS addresses avoidance of progression by immediate medical therapy to reduce aortic shear stress. Proximal symptomatic lesions with involvement of the ascending aorta are surgically treated in the acute setting, whereas acute uncomplicated distal dissection should be treated by medical therapy in the acute period, followed by surveillance and repeated imaging studies. Acute complicated distal dissection requires urgent invasive treatment and thoracic endovascular aortic repair has become the treatment modality of choice because of favorable outcomes compared to open surgical repair. Intramural hematoma, penetrating aortic ulcers, and traumatic aortic injuries of the descending aorta harbor specific challenges compared to aortic dissection and treatment strategies are not as uniformly defined as in aortic dissection. Moreover these lesions have a different prognosis. Once the acute period of aortic syndrome has been survived, a lifelong medical treatment and close surveillance with repeated imaging studies is essential to detect impending complications which might need invasive treatment within the short-, mid- or long-term.

Acute ischemia and bypass occlusion: current options.

AIM: Acute limb ischemia (ALI) and bypass occlusion are vascular emergencies and require immediate decisions and therapy. There are a lot of options, and the vascular therapist should be able to provide multiple alternatives. In this article we give on overview over the actual therapeutic options and present the data of a retrospective analysis of bypass occlusions. METHODS: Therapeutic options of ALI are discussed according to the current literature. For the retrospective study, patients with acute or subacute occlusion of below knee alloplastic bypass were included. Endpoints of the study were secondary patency and limb salvage rate. A prognostic index was calculated to estimate the specific risk. RESULTS: We analyzed 262 bypass occlusions; 161 patients were male. The majority of patients (N.=249) presented with threatened limb at readmission. After one year, 2/3 of the bypasses showed a reocclusion. Introducing the therapy with bypass thrombolysis enhanced the prognosis significantly. Of the factors examined, cardiac and renal insufficiency had a significant poor influence, whereas therapy with Coumadin enhanced the prognosis in terms of patency. The prognostic index was calculated using the factors identified as relevant in the multivariate analysis. DISCUSSION: Despite all new technical tools, ALI and bypass occlusion is still associated with a significant risk for limb loss and mortality. Endovascular procedures are excellent options. The prognostic index may be a helpful tool in estimating the patency or risk of limb loss.

[Treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms]. / Therapie des abdominalen Aortenaneurysmas.

The treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) has changed significantly since the introduction of endovascular aortic repair (EVAR). In terms of perioperative morbidity and mortality, randomized multicenter trials revealed results in favour of EVAR compared to open reconstruction. However, EVAR is associated with possible late complications caused by endoleaks, stent migration, kinking and/or overstenting of side branches, making life-long follow-up necessary. Since the majority of patients requiring therapy are elderly and exhibit attendant comorbidities, EVAR has become the procedure of choice in those patients with favourable anatomy. Medicamentous and conservative treatment may be relevant in patients with small to medium-sized aneurysms. Since smoking is one of the major risk factors for the development of AAA, all patients should be advised to stop smoking. Studies on long-term statin therapy in patients following surgical AAA repair showed a reduction in both overall and cardiovascular mortality; AAA patients should therefore receive statins for secondary prevention.