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A 61-year-old female presented with symptomatic recurrent left internal carotid stenosis. A method of intraoperative balloon dilatation under protective clamping of the common carotid artery is described.

In this study we investigated the efficacy of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and laser percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (LPTA) as an adjunct to surgery in patients with peripheral vascular disease. We report 84 cases of the simultaneous association of direct arterial surgery and angioradiological procedures to treat 82 patients with arterial occlusive disease of the lower limbs. Sixty-five patients (79.2%) were affected by severe claudication and 14 (19.6%) presented with rest pain or gangrene. One patient (1.2%) had signs of acute ischemia. PTA or LPTA were utilized as an inflow procedure in 41 cases (48.8%), as an outflow procedure in 24 (28.6%) and in 19 cases (22.6%) to recanalize an arterial occlusion in the contralateral limb opposite to surgical interventions. Immediate postoperative patency was achieved in 79 cases (94.0%), while in 5 cases (6.0%) it was impossible to perform a satisfactory balloon dilatation. The complication rate was 16.6%: 10 perioperative thromboses, 1 plaque dissection, 1 peripheral embolus, 1 haemorrhage and 1 femoral nerve lesion. No perioperative mortality occurred in this group of patients. Long term patency, analyzed with the life-table method (mean follow-up: 28 months) was respectively 78.0%, 76.3% and 78.9% at 5 years. These data indicate that the combined revascularization technique should always be recommended in properly selected patients because it is less invasive, the surgical risk and operative time are reduced and associated with early and long term cumulative patency rates comparable to those of extensive surgery.

Late occlusion of an aortofemoral bypass graft is usually caused by fibrointimal hyperplasia or progressive atherosclerosis. Several surgical approaches have been advocated in order to minimize the operative risk, to correct the impaired inflow and to provide a satisfactory outflow. In the last 16 years, in the Institute of Vascular Surgery and Angiology of the University of Milan, we have operated upon 182 consecutive thrombosed grafts. Inflow was restored by performing a graft limb thrombectomy using a Fogarty balloon catheter and simultaneously employing an endarterectomy ring stripper to dislodge tenaciously adherent fibrinous material and thrombotic plug. As the superficial femoral artery was generally occluded, usually a good outflow was achieved by profundaplasty in 101 cases (55.5%) or direct bypass (interposition graft), to a more distal segment of the profunda femoris artery in 55 cases (30.2%). Concomitant popliteal or tibial revascularization was done in the remaining 26 cases (14.3%) when pre-operative or intra-operative findings suggested an inadequate collateral network through the profunda femoris artery. Early re-occlusion, which occurred in 14 cases (7.6%), generally due to insufficient outflow, was corrected by additional intervention in 7 cases (3.8%), while 7 legs were amputated for extensive atherosclerotic disease. Six patients died giving a mortality rate of 3.3%. This low rate in a high risk population is probably related to our policy of operating under loco-regional anaesthesia. Long term results, with a patency rate of 62.0% at 3 years and 60.2% at 5 years (life table method), prove that this operation is a durable procedure for correction of graft limb thrombosis.

Fifty-six femoral non infected anastomotic false aneurysms (FAAs) were observed in 49 patients admitted to the Institute of Vascular Surgery, University of Milan, from 1975 to 1988; in 6 patients they were bilateral. These aneurysms developed after primary revascularization procedures at a mean interval of 66 months (range 12 to 156 months); one recurred after reparative surgery. Forty-four FAAs (78.6%) were asymptomatic, whereas 3 (5.3%) were complicated by acute expansion and 9 (16.1%) by thrombosis. Host vessel degeneration was the cause of aneurysm formation in most cases. A history of hypertension was present in 30% of the patients. All anastomotic aneurysms were operated upon except for one small aneurysm that was asymptomatic. In 5 patients aneurysm resection was carried out on both sides. The surgical technique was endoaneurysmectomy in all the cases with insertion of an interposition graft in 48 cases, a fabric patch in 2 cases and prosthesis re-anastomosis in 5 cases. One case of peripheral embolization occurring in the early postoperative period was successfully treated and there was no operative mortality. In our opinion elective repair of these aneurysms should be recommended whenever possible because of their propensity to develop serious complications and the operative morbidity is low.

The authors describe their experience in the treatment of peripheral congenital A-V fistulas in 64 cases. Different surgical procedures (skeletation, "en bloc resection") have been performed in 19 patients, embolization in 15 patients. The need for a more radical and definitive procedure has induced the authors, in a recent series of 6 patients, to associate embolization and surgical therapy in the same operative session. The results are encouraging. The technique is reported.