VASA. Zeitschrift für Gefässkrankheiten
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Comparative Study
Comparison of long-term survival after repair of ruptured and non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Late survival rates were compared and analysed for 1070 patients undergoing repair of ruptured infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA, n = 364, mean age 70.0 years, male:female ratio 5.6:1) and non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA, n = 706, mean age 66.6 years, male: female ratio 5.4:1) between January 1970 and July 1992 at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Helsinki University Central Hospital, Finland. There was a statistically significant difference in survival rates between the RAAA and AAA groups during the first three months after repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Operative mortality rates were 7.4% for electively repaired abdominal aortic aneurysms and 48.7% for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. ⋯ Coronary artery disease, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and renal insufficiency statistically significantly reduced late survival rates after 3 months post-surgery for non-ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, whereas these risk factors did not alter late prognosis after successful repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Cerebrovascular disease reduced late survival rates both in AAA (median survival time 6.3 years) and RAAA group (median survival time 4.9 years). Of late deaths 41% were caused by coronary artery disease in the AAA group and 38% in the RAAA group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Case Reports
[Left internal thoracic artery as a collateral vessel in chronic occlusion of the pelvic artery].
Four years after implantation of an aorto-bi-iliac artery graft, a 53-year-old man suffered from intermittent claudication with a walking distance of 50 meters. By transaxillary aortography the left femoral artery could not be visualized. Selective angiography of the internal thoracic artery revealed a collateral circulation from the subclavian artery via the left internal thoracic artery, the superior epigastric artery and the inferior epigastric artery into the left external iliac artery (Winslow's pathway). Prior to using the internal thoracic artery for coronary bypass surgery, a function of this vessel as a collateral to the lower extremities should be excluded.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
[Prostacyclin (iloprost) as an adjuvant in local surgical therapy of stage IV arterial occlusive disease--is quantification of the therapeutic effect possible with tcPO2 measurements?].
The effect of intravenous therapy with iloprost (average duration 6 weeks) on the prognosis of leg-preserving local surgical treatment and on the transcutaneously measured oxygen pressure (tcPO2) in patients with ischaemic lesions was investigated in a prospective, open, controlled, randomized study. All of the 30 patients recruited to the study suffered from a peripheral arterial occlusive disease Fontaine stage IV with progressive symptoms and arterial occlusions below the knee. 15 patients received iloprost intravenously for 6 hours per day in an individual tolerable dose (mean dose: 1.7 ng/kg/min). 15 patients in the control group received no trial therapy. During the treatment period each patient underwent minor amputation or skin grafting. ⋯ At the same time a significant difference in the tcPO2-changes between responders and nonresponders was demonstrated (p < 0.05). Patients with primary wound healing had a greater increase in tcPO2 than patients whose wounds did not heal. An increase of at least 10 mmHg (6 patients) in tcPO2 during the infusion after 3 weeks of therapy predicted primary post-operative wound healing.
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Monitoring the central nervous system during carotid endarterectomy plays an important role in detection of cerebral ischemia. With optical spectroscopy in the near-infrared light range it is now possible to measure regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) noninvasively. Numerous studies emphasize the importance of cerebral oxygen balance rather than absolute values of cerebral blood flow or metabolic rate. In this study data from oxygen saturation measured in the jugular bulb (SJO2) were compared to rSO2. ⋯ Noninvasive cerebral optical spectroscopy is a useful tool to determine the brain tissue oxygenation. The positive correlation to jugular bulb oxygen saturation is somewhat unexpected as rSO2 evaluates regional while SJO2 measures global oxygen content. However our results suggests that both methods are able to detect episodes of cerebral ischemia during carotid endarterectomy. The interpretation of the changes of cerebral oxygen saturation with respect to neurological outcome warrants further studies.