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To assess feasibility, efficacy and safety of carbon dioxide (CO2) digital subtraction angiography (DSA) to guide endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in a cohort of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). After Ethical Committee approval, the records of 13 patients (all male, mean age 74.6 ± 8.0 years) with CKD, who underwent EVAR to exclude an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) under CO2 angiography guidance, were reviewed. The AAA to be excluded had a mean diameter of 52.0 ± 8.0 mm. CO2 angiography was performed by automatic (n = 7) or hand (n = 6) injection. The endograft was correctly placed and the AAA was excluded in all cases, without any surgical conversions. Two patients (15.4%) had an endoleak: one type-Ia, detected by CO2-DSA and effectively treated with prosthesis dilatation; one type-III, detected by CO2-DSA, confirmed using 10 ml of ICM, and conservatively managed. In one patient, CO2 angiograms were considered of too low quality for guiding the procedure and 200 ml of ICM were administered. Overall, 11 patients (84.6%) underwent a successful EVAR under the guidance of the sole CO2 angiography. No patients suffered from major complications, including those typically CO2-related. Two patients suffered from abdominal pain during the procedure secondary to a transient splanchnic perfusion’s reduction due to CO2, and one patient had a worsening of renal function probably caused by a cholesterol embolization during the procedure. In patients with CKD, EVAR under CO2 angiography guidance is feasible, effective, and safe.

The radial artery approach has been accepted as an alternative to the traditional femoral approach in both diagnostic and interventional procedures, including treatment of complex coronary lesions such as chronic total occlusions. Catheterization of the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) graft is frequently performed through this route in order to limit catheter manipulation and avoid dissection of the subclavian and mammary artery, a dramatic event rarely reported in the literature. Nonetheless, indication for this approach should be carefully evaluated, especially if an unfavorable angle of origin of the mammary artery is present. We report the case of a patient who, following iatrogenic dissection of the LIMA during catheterization through the left radial artery, was electively treated with percutaneous coronary angioplasty on a complex anatomy, rather than with high-risk redo coronary artery bypass surgery. Using a combined radial and femoral approach, retrograde disobstruction of the left anterior descending artery, followed by plaque debulking with rotational atherectomy through the struts of a previously implanted stent in the left main-left circumflex artery, was performed. Although the radial approach might be considered even for the treatment of complex coronary anatomy subsets, appropriate use in diagnostic and interventional settings should always be carefully evaluated.

The completely absorbable stents represent one of the latest innovations in the field of interventional cardiology, prospecting the possibility of "vascular repair". In the published trials (ABSORB Cohort A and B, ABSORB EXTEND, and ABSORB II, III and IV) chronic total occlusions (CTOs) were considered an exclusion criteria. More recently the CTO-ABSORB pilot study demonstrated the safety and feasibility of bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) use in case of CTO recanalization. We present the first case, to our knowledge, of in-stent occlusion successfully treated with an everolimus-eluting BVS and discuss its potential advantages in such kind of lesions.