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COVID19 altered and impacted medical and surgical practice around the world. Standard of care and routine procedures are disrupted. Majors shift in personnel, and ad hoc new team as well as delocalization and working with new infrastructures are further challenges to be dealt with. This review of three very unusual scenarios illustrates pitfalls and dangers harbored in the re-shaped landscape of COVID19 exemplifying the narrow path bridging from the medical and surgical comfort zone to uncharted territory and eventually leading to collateral damage., Competing Interests: Les auteurs n’ont déclaré aucun conflit d’intérêts en relation avec cet article.

Carotid artery atherosclerosis remains one of the major causes of stroke. The efficacy of carotid artery recanalization has already been established and is considered significant for symptomatic stenosis >70% and moderate for stenosis between 50-69 %. Regarding asymptomatic stenosis, carotid artery recanalization should be reserved for carefully selected patients with a stenosis between 70-90 % and an estimated procedural risk at less than 3 %. Two therapeutic options are currently available : angioplasty with stent placement and endarterectomy. While the endovascular approach may be associated with a higher periprocedural complication rate of stroke, there remains a significant decrease in the rate of myocardial infarction and peripheral nerve palsy compared to surgery. As a result, each case should be reviewed with a multidisciplinary approach in order to propose the best therapeutic strategy., Competing Interests: Les auteurs n’ont déclaré aucun conflit d’intérêts en relation avec cet article.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are a common condition whose prognosis without treatment is poor because of the lethality in case of breakage. An early diagnosis is thus necessary by screening or symptoms recognition. Surgery is not the only option then, continuous monitoring and medical treatment being sometimes possible. If curative treatment is undertaken, endovascular technique is an alternative to open surgical repair but its indications are not yet fully established and endovascular grafts have not the same longevity as open surgery. A review of the indications for endovascular repair in patients operated at the Geneva University Hospital has been used to illustrate the importance of individualized care for each patient.

This study constitutes an update on current knowledge in the literature concerning closed traumas of the abdominal aorta. The morbidity of such lesions, in case of initial survival, depends on both rapid diagnosis and prompt treatment of hypovolemia and ischemia. The presence of associated intestinal lesions renders diagnosis difficult, modifies surgical treatment, and aggravates prognosis.

Aim of the Study: To analyse the course of upper limb edema in patients with an arteriovenous fistula used for dialysis and to analyse the available therapeutic options., Study Design: Retrospective study of patients with this type of edema, who were treated in our institution from 1992 to 1996., Patients and Methods: Seven consecutive patients with an arterioveinous fistula treated for edema of the upper extremity, were reviewed. The fistula was created at the elbow in 6 patients and at the forearm in 1. The edema appeared immediately after operation in 4 patients and after a delay in 3 patients. Stenosis (3 patients) or occlusion (2 patients) of the subclavian vein was documented in 5 patients who were investigated by angiography., Results: The edema regressed spontaneously in 4 patients because collaterals developed in 3 patients, and the fistula thrombosed in 1 patient. Surgical intervention allowed regression of the edema in the other 3 patients: excessive output of the fistula was reduced in 2 patients and an axillojugular bypass was performed in 1 patient. The fistula remained effective in 6 patients. Another fistula was performed on the contralateral arm in 1 patient., Conclusion: Non-operative management is recommended in patients who develop edema immediately after creation of the fistula, because spontaneous regression is likely. Measures aimed at reducing the output of the fistula or enhancing the venous capacities of the arm are required when edema appears at a later stage. The fistula can be saved in the majority of cases.

Purpose of the Study: Description of a technical procedure to diminish the risk of spillage into the mediastinum in case of leakage from an intrathoracic anastomosis after partial esophagectomy., Method: In Ivor-Lewis procedures for cancer of the middle or lower third of the esophagus, the esogastric anastomosis is slipped under ther upper mediastinal pleura which is kept intact. From 1989 to 1997, this technique has been used in 43 consecutive patients (squamous carcinoma in 22, adenocarcinoma in 21). Three patients died postoperatively (7%) and complications (in 38%) were mostly pulmonary and cardiac. No anastomotic leak was detected on routine Gastrografin swallow performed on the 7th postoperative day. Three patients required dilation for stenosis., Discussion and Conclusion: Subpleural blanketing of intrathoracic anastomoses after esophagectomy is safe and easy to do, and should help diminish the consequences of possible anastomotic leakage.

The association of a cardiac and a thoracic vascular lesion following blunt trauma seems real based on our experience and other published reports. Over the last 4 years, we have operated upon 3 patients with this association. The cardiac lesions included severe myocardial contusion (documented by electrocardiographic and enzymatic changes), a tear of the aortic valve, and occlusion of a coronary artery. The vascular lesions consisted in rupture of the aortic isthmus in 2 patients and traumatic pseudoaneurysm of the innominate artery. This association justifies a detailed cardiovascular evaluation in any case of severe cardiac or thoracic vascular lesion.