Annals of vascular surgery
-
Case Reports
Endovascular Repair of Ruptured Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm with an Off-the-shelf Endoprosthesis.
Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm type 3 (TAAA3) is a challenging disease to vascular surgeons. In these cases, the best treatment methodology is conventional surgery, which portends a mortality rate ranging from 8% to 25%. Endovascular treatment has been shown to be a good alternative, with encouraging results. In 2012, a new alternative for endovascular treatment of TAAA3 was presented: Cook T-Branch endoprosthesis (Cook Medical, Bloomington, Indiana). We present the first successful case of endovascular treatment of a ruptured TAAA3 with this stent. ⋯ Until now, the only endovascular alternative for ruptured aortic aneurysm was the parallel prosthesis technique. The development of an off-the-shelf T-Branch prosthesis (Cook Medical) has solved this problem in many cases, enabling immediate treatment of this type of aneurysm in approximately 83% of patients. The fact that the thoracic aorta would be excluded lead the patient to a high risk of spinal cord ischemia. We therefore decided to make a cerebrospinal fluid drainage. There is no consensus regarding the best devices to be used as branches. In this case, we chose to use the previously described covered stents, according to its flexibility and compatibility with the length of arteries. This is the first report of the use of a T-branch (Cook Medical) for treatment of a ruptured TAAA3. The development of an off-the-shelf endoprosthesis has many advantages: it is available for use in an emergency situation, and there is no time lapse for its preparation. The T-Branch stent graft is a valid option for the treatment of ruptured TAAA3.
-
Case Reports
Thrombolytic Therapy of Acute Massive Pulmonary Embolism Using Swan-Ganz Pulmonary Artery Catheter.
Acute massive pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with high fatality, and catheter-directed thrombolytic therapy has been shown to be an efficacious treatment for this condition. We herein report a patient who developed acute massive PE but could not undergo the conventional catheter-directed thrombolytic therapy. A Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter was placed at bedside to initiate immediate thrombolytic infusion, which resulted in dramatic clinical improvement. This report underscores a potential role of thrombolytic therapy via a transjugular pulmonary artery catheter in patients with acute massive PE who could not undergo the conventional catheter-based thrombolytic intervention.
-
The purpose of this study is to investigate the neurological, biochemical, and histopathologic effects of both the acute and maintenance treatment of curcumin on an experimental spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury model in rats. ⋯ We believe that curcumin possesses antioxidant, antiproliferative, and anticarcinogenic properties and may be an effective drug for the prevention of spinal cord IR injury in light of the neurologic, biochemical, and histopathological data of this study and published scientific literature.
-
Comparative Study
Estimation of V-POSSUM and E-PASS Scores in Prediction of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients after Elective Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery.
V-POSSUM and E-PASS scoring systems are usually used to predict morbidity and early mortality in surgical patients. We conducted this study to assess the validity of the V-POSSUM and E-PASS scores in predicting risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) development in patients undergoing elective open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. ⋯ V-POSSUM and E-PASS scores have similar good properties in predicting postoperative AKI in patients undergoing elective open AAA repair.
-
Advances in endovascular aneurysm repair now allow surgeons to treat high-risk patients with complex aortic aneurysms. Stringent selection criteria for repair exist from an anatomic and technical perspective; however, there is a paucity of literature examining frailty in patients being evaluated for fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair (FEVAR). As a marker of frailty well supported in the literature, we hypothesized that preoperative hypoalbuminemia would increase risk for short-term mortality after endovascular juxtarenal and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair. ⋯ Patients with hypoalbuminemia have significantly increased mortality risk. Albumin level is regulated by nutritional intake and inflammation due to chronic disease, which make it a useful part of a preoperative frailty assessment. Further studies are needed to identify whether optimizing nutrition status will affect albumin levels or decrease mortality.