Journal of vascular surgery
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
CAPTURE 2 risk-adjusted stroke outcome benchmarks for carotid artery stenting with distal embolic protection.
Many medical procedures undergo rapid evolution and process of care improvements after introduction. National outcome standards are useful to help physicians, institutions, and other stakeholders evaluate the quality of their programs and take action when suboptimal outcomes are identified. The purpose of this analysis was to derive contemporary risk-adjusted stroke rates from a large, contemporary, independently assessed outcome database within 30 days after carotid artery stenting (CAS) in the United States. ⋯ CAS outcomes in patients at high surgical risk have comparable periprocedural outcomes to published randomized trials of endarterectomy for patients at standard surgical risk. A model is presented for calculating a contemporary national standard for risk-adjusted stroke rates. Quality improvement measures could be based on relative performance to this benchmark and could improve overall outcomes for patients undergoing CAS.
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The Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI) is a widely used model for predicting cardiac events after noncardiac surgery. We compared the accuracy of the RCRI with a new, vascular surgery-specific model developed from patients within the Vascular Study Group of New England (VSGNE). ⋯ The RCRI substantially underestimates in-hospital cardiac events in patients undergoing elective or urgent vascular surgery, especially after LEB, EVAR, and OAAA. The VSG-CRI more accurately predicts in-hospital cardiac events after vascular surgery and represents an important tool for clinical decision making.
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New training paradigms in vascular surgery necessitate medical student interest in vascular disease. We examined the effects of incorporation of a vascular disease educational program during the second year of the medical school curriculum on student acquisition of knowledge and interest in the treatment of vascular disease. ⋯ A vascular disease educational program administered to second-year medical students increases interest in vascular disease and interest in further training. The increased interest translates to greater student enrollment in the vascular surgery clerkship in the subsequent academic year.
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Precise, comprehensive imaging of the arterial circulation is the cornerstone of successful revascularization of the ischemic extremity in patients with diabetes mellitus. Arterial imaging is challenging in these patients because the disease is often multisegmental with a predilection for the distal tibial and peroneal arteries. Occlusive lesions and the arterial wall itself are often calcified and patients presenting with ischemic complications frequently have underlying renal insufficiency. ⋯ For patients in whom a catheter-based intervention is the likely treatment, a diagnostic DSA immediately followed by a catheter-based treatment in the same procedure is the preferred approach. In patients with pre-existing renal dysfunction, in which gadolinium-enhanced MRA is contraindicated, DSA or CTA can be performed. However, patients should have an infusion of intravenous normal saline solution or sodium bicarbonate before the procedure to reduce the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy.
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Axillosubclavian vein thrombosis, also known as Paget-Schroetter syndrome, is a rare presentation of thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) representing approximately 5% of all cases. Conventional management consists of routine anticoagulation, operative decompression via first rib resection and scalenectomy (FRRS), and, recently, thrombolysis. The purpose of our study was to retrospectively review our experience with this condition and compare the effectiveness of preoperative endovascular intervention with thrombolysis and venoplasty to anticoagulation alone in those undergoing FRRS to preserve subclavian vein patency. ⋯ Preoperative endovascular intervention offered no benefit over simple anticoagulation prior to FRRS, since the use of thrombolysis prior to FRRS, regardless of need for postoperative venoplasty, had little impact on overall rates of patency. The optimal treatment algorithm may merely be routine anticoagulation for all effort thrombosis patients prior to FRRS followed by venography with venoplasty if needed. The role of thrombolysis for Paget-Schroetter syndrome should be further investigated in randomized trials.