Journal of vascular surgery
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The presence of bilateral iliac aneurysms extending to the iliac bifurcations, in conjunction with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, complicates endovascular repair because of the difficulty of preserving one or both hypogastric arteries. Several open techniques have been suggested for hypogastric preservation, but they usually involve some type of anatomic or extra-anatomic bypass. ⋯ L. Gore and Associates, Flagstaff, Ariz) within the iliac limb of a Powerlink device (Endologix, Inc, Irvine, Calif) to preserve a hypogastric artery.
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Multicenter Study
The Glasgow Aneurysm Score does not predict mortality after open abdominal aortic aneurysm in the era of endovascular aneurysm repair.
Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has reduced early adverse outcomes from abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. Preferential use of EVAR may have altered the profile of patients who undergo open repair. The validity of scoring systems such as the Glasgow Aneurysm Score (GAS), devised when open surgery was the only treatment, required reappraisal. ⋯ The GAS did not discriminate between survivors and nonsurvivors after open AAA repair in this cohort. In the era of EVAR, it is possible that the GAS does not predict the outcome of open AAA repair. An alternative explanation is that patients with risk factors for poor outcomes from EVAR, such as adverse AAA morphology, are being selected out for open repair.
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Vascular prosthetic graft infection is a severe complication after open aortic aneurysm repair. Reports of infected endografts are scarce. General treatment consensus with infected graft material is that it should be removed completely. The objective of this study was to describe the incidence of endograft infection after endovascular repair of abdominal (EVAR) and thoracic aortic aneurysm (TEVAR) and to report treatment options and their outcome. ⋯ The incidence of endograft infection is below 1%, with a mortality rate of 25%. Although consensus is that infected graft material should always be removed, this study shows no significant difference in mortality between the conservatively- and the surgically-managed group, possibly related to the small sample size. There may be a role for conservative treatment in selected cases of patients with an infected endograft.
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Comparative Study
Racial disparities in the use of revascularization before leg amputation in Medicare patients.
Black patients with peripheral arterial disease undergo amputation at two to four times the rate of white patients. In order to determine whether differences in attempts at limb salvage might contribute to this disparity, we studied the limb care received prior to amputation by black patients compared with whites. ⋯ Black patients are much less likely than whites to undergo attempts at limb salvage prior to amputation. Further studies should explore whether this disparity might be attributable to race-related differences in severity of arterial disease, patient preferences, or physician decision making.
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Case Reports
Acute aortic occlusion in a child secondary to lap-belt injury treated with thromboendarterectomy and primary repair.
Abdominal aortic injury as a result of blunt trauma is a rare event and has been described in few children. A 6-year-old girl presented with acute bilateral lower extremity ischemia, and a triad of acute aortic occlusion, intra-abdominal visceral injury, and a lumbar chance fracture after sustaining a seat belt injury from a motor vehicle collision. An emergency aortic thromboendarterectomy and primary repair were performed. This represents one of the few reports of acute traumatic aortic thrombosis in a child and highlights the surgical treatment of acute abdominal aortic injury in a pediatric patient.