Analysis of Presentation and Outcomes in Acute Limb Ischemia Patients During COVID-19 State of Emergency.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, cardiovascular patients were found to be presenting to hospitals with myocardial infarctions and cerebrovascular accidents at progressed disease states. We noticed a parallel in acute limb ischemia (ALI) patients presenting during Massachusetts' COVID-19 State of Emergency declaration. We question whether patients developed a hesitancy to seek medical attention at hospitals due to fear of COVID-19. Our objective was to compare acuity of ALI, interventions, and limb survival in patients presenting before, during, and after a state of emergency. METHODS: Four timeframes were set to compare patients presenting peri-2020 COVID-19 State of Emergency and patients presenting during a pre-pandemic era at a tertiary, academic institution. A reference period from 2019, Pre-State of Emergency period, State of Emergency period, and Post-State of Emergency period were designated. Patient characteristics, interventions, and outcomes data were collected. Unpaired t-test, ANOVA, and Chi-square statistical analyses were used. RESULTS: A total of 95 patients presenting with ALI were identified. Compared to Reference group, state of emergency group had more patients presenting with Rutherford Class III, 12.9% vs 35%, and less patient presenting with Class I, 45.1% vs 0%, P = .02. State of emergency group had more delayed presentations with ≥6 hours after symptom onset, 45% vs 85%, P = .01. Above-knee amputations were performed in 20% of patients during state of emergency and 31.6% for Post-State of Emergency, vs 6.5% in the Reference group; P = .03. There was no difference in intensive care unit admission, length of stay, or mortality between patients from different groups. CONCLUSION: During a state of emergency, ALI patients were noted to present later from symptom onset, have greater disease severity, and more likely to undergo amputations. We suspect delay in presentation and limb lost to be attributed to reluctance to seek immediate medical attention.

Peak systolic velocity and color aliasing are important in the development of duplex ultrasound criteria for external carotid artery stenosis.

OBJECTIVE: The external carotid artery (ECA) serves as a major collateral pathway for ophthalmic and cerebral artery blood supply. It is routinely examined as part of carotid duplex ultrasound, but criteria for determining ECA stenosis are poorly characterized and typically extrapolated from internal carotid artery data. This is despite the fact that the ECA is smaller in diameter, with a higher resistance and lower volume flow pattern. We hypothesized that using the cutoff of a peak systolic velocity (PSV) ≥125 cm/s, extrapolated from internal carotid artery data, will overestimate the prevalence of ≥50% ECA stenosis and aimed to determine a more appropriate criterion. METHODS: From December 2016 to July 2017, consecutive carotid duplex ultrasound studies performed in our university hospital Intersocietal Accreditation Commission-accredited vascular laboratory were prospectively identified and categorized with respect to prevalence and distribution of ECA PSVs and color aliasing, an indication of turbulent flow or flow acceleration. Presence of color aliasing was determined by two individual reviewers and agreement assessed by Cohen κ coefficient. ECA stenosis was calculated by the North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET) method in patients with computed tomography angiography (CTA) performed within 3 months of carotid duplex ultrasound without an intervening intervention. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to identify best criteria for determining ≥50% ECA stenosis. RESULTS: There were 1324 ECAs from 662 patients analyzed; 174 patients had a total of 252 ECAs with PSV ≥125 cm/s (19% of the total sample). Of those ECAs with PSVs ≥125 cm/s, 30.5% were between 125 and 149 cm/s, 22.2% were between 150 and 174 cm/s, 13.1% were between 175 and 199 cm/s, and 34.1% were ≥200 cm/s. There were 341 ECAs that were analyzed for the presence of color aliasing. In 86 ECAs with PSV ≥200 cm/s, 58.1% had color aliasing, whereas in 255 ECAs with PSV <200 cm/s, only 19.2% had color aliasing (P = .0001). There were 325 CTA studies reviewed and assessed for the presence of a ≥50% ECA stenosis as determined by CTA. Overall, the combination of an ECA PSV ≥200 cm/s with the presence of color aliasing provided the highest combination of sensitivity (90%), specificity (96%), positive predictive value (83%), and negative predictive value (98%) and the greatest area under the curve of 0.971 for determining the presence of a ≥50% ECA stenosis based on CTA. CONCLUSIONS: A PSV ≥125 cm/s alone probably overestimates the prevalence of ≥50% ECA stenosis. A PSV ≥200 cm/s combined with color aliasing is highly predictive of >50% ECA stenosis based on correlation with CTA.

Eversion Femoral Endarterectomy for Iliofemoral Occlusive Disease: A Description of Technique and Series of Cases.

BACKGROUND: Eversion endarterectomy (EE) is a well-described technique for the treatment of extracranial cerebrovascular disease. Longitudinal arteriotomy and closure with patch angioplasty is the standard for infrainguinal arterial occlusive disease in the iliofemoral segment. A potential drawback of this technique is the introduction of exogenous material into the field. We herein describe a technique of transverse femoral arteriotomy with primary closure for treatment of chronic limb ischemia involving the iliofemoral system. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated all patients who underwent EE at our institution for chronic limb ischemia. Eleven patients were identified who underwent EE by a single surgeon (M.N.) at our institution from 2013 to 2014. Indications for operation included life-limiting claudication, rest pain, and tissue loss. In each case, the external iliac artery (EIA), common femoral artery (CFA), or superficial femoral artery (SFA) was divided with eversion of the proximal and distal segments and endarterectomy. Reconstruction was achieved with primary end-to-end closure. Preoperative demographics were evaluated, as well as preoperative and postoperative ankle-brachial indices and Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) II lesion classification when available. In addition, all adjunctive procedures performed both at the time of index operation and subsequently were recorded. Clinical improvement was gauged using the recommended scale for gauging change in clinical status according to Rutherford. RESULTS: Follow-up ranged from 6 weeks to 16 months. There were no amputations, deaths, or surgical site infections. Two patients required concomitant patch angioplasty in the treated segment at the index operation. There was symptom improvement in 9 of 11 patients, with 2 requiring reintervention due to poor outflow. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with arterial occlusive disease of the iliofemoral segment, EE either alone or in association with endovascular stenting or open bypass appears to be a safe and effective technique. It may obviate the need for patch closure. In our initial case series, there were no amputations, deaths, or surgical site infections. Symptoms improved in 9 of 11 patients with only 2 requiring reintervention due to recurrent symptoms during the follow-up period.

Blunt traumatic celiac artery avulsion managed with celiac artery ligation and open aorto-celiac bypass.

Traumatic celiac artery injuries are rare and highly lethal with reported mortality rates of 38-62%. The vast majority are caused by penetrating trauma with only 11 reported cases due to blunt trauma (Graham et al., 1978; Asensio et al., 2000, 2002). Only 3 of these cases were complete celiac artery avulsions. Management options described depend upon the type of injury and have included medical therapy with anti-platelet agents or anti-coagulants, endovascular stenting, and open ligation. We report a case of a survivor of complete celiac artery avulsion from blunt trauma managed by open bypass.