Sexual dysfunction after elective laparoscopic or endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in men.

INTRODUCTION: Infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair can lead to ejaculation and erection troubles in men. There are few studies on sexual dysfunction after endovascular repair (EVAR) but they suggest less retrograde ejaculation than after open repair. We assessed the sexual dysfunction and ejaculation troubles after elective laparoscopic repair or EVAR. METHODS: We conducted a monocentric prospective study on 124 patients undergoing AAA repair between 2013 and 2015. Sexual function was evaluated using the IIEF-15 questionnaire and questions on ejaculation. RESULTS: Only 45 patients (36.3%) accepted to complete the IIEF preoperatively with 20-37.8% having preoperative sexual dysfunction. Among them, 21 (46.7%) accepted to complete the questionnaire at 3, 6 and 12 months. Mean age at inclusion was 65±5.6 years in the laparoscopic group and 77±10.5 years in the EVAR group (P=0.003). Erectile and sexual function were slightly improved at 12 months in the laparoscopic group (+1.4 for erectile score and +4.6 for IIEF score) with no significant difference (P=0.83 and 0.74) whereas 8 patients (61.5%) had persistent ejaculation troubles at 3 months. In the EVAR group, patients had moderate sexual dysfunction at baseline without improvement at 12 months, but only one patient reported ejaculation troubles. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients eligible for AAA repair present with baseline erectile and sexual dysfunction. Laparoscopic AAA repair provides no onset of erectile or sexual dysfunction but a global improvement after surgery. Ejaculation troubles are frequent and persistent at 1 year. However, EVAR treatment, doesn't allow recovering of sexual function at 1 year. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

[Quality standards for duplex ultrasonographic assessment (duplex us) of abdominal aortic stent grafts]. / Standards de qualité pour la pratique de l'écho-Doppler dans la surveillance des endoprothèses aortiques abdominales.

The quality standards of the French Society of Vascular Medicine for the ultrasound assessment of lower limb arteries in vascular medicine practice are based on the principle that these examinations have to meet two requirements: technical know-how (knowledge of devices and methodologies); medical know-how (level of examination matching the indication and purpose of the examination, interpretation and critical analysis of results). OBJECTIVES OF THE QUALITY STANDARDS: To describe an optimal level of examination adjusted to the indication or clinical hypothesis; to establish harmonious practices, methodologies, terminologies, results description and report; to provide good practice reference points and to promote a high quality process. THEMES OF THE QUALITY STANDARDS: The three levels of examination, indications and objectives for each level; the reference standard examination (level 2) and its variants according to indications; the minimal content of the exam report, the medical conclusion letter to the corresponding physician (synthesis, conclusion and management suggestions); commented glossary (anatomy, hemodynamics, signs and symptoms); technical basis; device settings. Here, we discuss duplex ultrasound for the supervision of the aortic stent grafts.

Study of agreement of aortic, radial and femoral blood pressures during aortic endografting.

PURPOSE: To estimate the agreement between radial or femoral, and ascending aortic invasive blood pressure values. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective study on 32 patients who underwent an aortic endografting under general anesthesia. After deploying the prosthesis under controlled hypotension, a catheter was introduced in the aorta to measure the staged systolic (SAP), diastolic (DAP) and mean (MAP) arterial pressures, in particular at the level of ascending aorta and femoral artery. RESULTS: No differences were observed between SAP, DAP or MAP measured in the aorta versus femoral or radial arteries. A better agreement was observed between the aortic and femoral MAP (bias of 1mmHg, limits of agreement between: -8.8mmHg and +10.8mmHg) than between the aortic and the radial MAP (bias of 1.7mmHg, limits of agreement between: -14.1mmHg and +17.5mmHg). The comparison between radial and femoral MAP was not satisfying (bias of -4.7mmHg and limits of agreement between -19.1mmHg and +9.7mmHg). CONCLUSION: The femoral MAP is more accurate to predict value of the aortic MAP than the radial MAP in a hypotensive setting. The clinician should be aware of these discrepancies in conditions of hemodynamic impairment to optimize the treatment.

[Duplex ultrasound detection of type II endoleaks by after endovascular aneurysm repair: interest of contrast enhancement]. / Détection écho-Doppler des endofuites de type II après endoprothèses aortiques: intérêt des agents de contraste.

OBJECTIVE: Type II endoleaks (EFII) are related to retrograde flow via aorta tributaries. They are the most frequent complication after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). We hypothesized that the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) by an experienced vascular physician could increase the sensitivity of detecting EFII compared with computed tomography angiography (CTA) taken as the gold standard. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From November 2010 to February 2013, patients with EVAR were included prospectively. All patients had a color duplex ultrasound (CDU), CEUS and CTA. Sensitivity, specificity and kappa's coefficient were determined to estimate the performance of CDU and CEUS to assess EFII compared with CTA. RESULTS: Sixty CDU and 60 CEUS explorations were compared to 60 CTA explorations. Nineteen type EFII were detected by CTA, 14 by CDU and 15 by CEUS. CDU sensitivity was 74% (κ=0.75), and CEUS sensitivity was 78% (κ=0.8). Both tests exhibited 97% specificity. There was good agreement between CDU results (κ=0.75) and CEUS results (κ=0.8) compared with CTA. There was very good agreement between CDU and CEUS results for detection of EFII (κ=0.93). There was no statistically significant difference between the sensitivity of CDU and CEUS (P=0.32). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that contrast enhancement does not increase yield for ultrasound detection of type II endoleaks when performed by an experienced vascular physician.