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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect upon the National Health Service (NHS). Like other specialties, Interventional Radiology (IR) rapidly adapted to the evolving situation. Members of BSIR were surveyed to obtain a snapshot of the experiences of UK IRs in response to COVID-19. An electronic survey was compiled using Google Forms, approved by the BSIR Council Officers and distributed to BSIR members by email on 18 th April 2020. A total of 228 responses were received. The survey was open for a 14-day period and the data analysed in Microsoft Excel 365. The response rate was 29% (228/800). Results Two thirds of respondents work in a Tertiary unit and 33% deliver IR in a District Hospital. 84% have a day-case facility. After the COVID-19 crisis, 81% of respondents were able to maintain 24–7 On-call service. 59% of respondents had been required change their day to day practice to allow the on-call service to continue. 55% of respondents were involved in providing a central line service. Of those questioned, 91% continued to offer endovascular services, 98% genitourinary and 92% hepatobiliary services, although a degree of service reduction was described. 38% have provided IR trainees with additional training material during this pandemic. Conclusions This survey has confirmed that the responses of UK IR departments to the COVID-19 crisis have ensured vital on-call and urgent services have continued, including ongoing availability of most IR sub-specialties. Availability of a day case facility has possibly influenced the positive response.

Congenital intrahepatic arterio-portal fistulae (cIAPF) are rare, high-flow vascular malformations that usually present with portal hypertension. They almost never cause heart failure, unless there is associated congenital heart disease or the ductus venosus in patent. We present an unusual case of IAPF in an 11-day-old boy, who presented with features of cardiac failure associated with increased N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP). The IAPF arose directly from the aorta, separated from the hepatic artery and divided to separately supply both left and right portal veins. The ductus venosus was occluded. The IAPF was treated with embolization of the aorto-portal fistula, accessed through a direct percutaneous puncture of the fistula. Embolization was associated with an immediate clinical improvement and a rapid and sustained normalization of the NT pro-BNP level. A similar re-presentation was noted and treated with repeat embolization. The child is well on follow-up. To our knowledge, this is the first case of cIAPF, which was presented with cardiac failure when the ductus venosus has closed and has been treated successfully with direct, percutaneous transhepatic embolization of the fistula, twice. Serial clinical follow-up and ultrasonographical examinations have proven to be an effective strategy to detect recurrent fistulae.

Introduction: The frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique may be complicated by a risk of spinal cord injury (SCI) which has been reported as high as 10%.Precise mechanisms responsible for SCI after FET are still unclear and so the best protection strategy to avoid it. Hypothesis: We aim to review our experience with a specific protocol developed to reduce the risk of SCI during open surgery of the descending aorta applied to patients operated with FET in order to increase spinal cord protection Methods: Spinal cord protection protocol included: 1.Careful preoperative planning to deploy of stent above the level of the 10th thoracic vertebra and preserving the patency of the left subclavian artery; 2.Postoperative management with goal directed therapy aimed to achieve mean systemic blood pressure between 85 and 105 mmHg, cardiac index >2.4 l/min/m2, urine output >1 ml/Kg/min, a base excess of 0±5, a pH>7.3 and haemoglobin level >10 g/dl; 3.Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage was used in 4 patients (5.8%) only Results: From April 2006 to December 2015 69 patients underwent aortic repair with the FET at our Institution.There were 31 males (51.7%). Median [IQR] age was 69 [59-75] years and median [IQR] Log EuroSCORE was 20.3 [13.9-36.2]. There were 19 (27.5%) reoperations. Operative times and outcomes are reported in Table 1. Conclusions: SCI remains the Achilles’ heel of the FET procedure.Elevated blood pressure in the preoperative period may reduce the risk of SCI by increasing the collateral network remodeling.Careful preoperarative planning and avoidance of sacrifice of all thoracic segmental arteries and preservation of left subclavian artery patency may reduce the risk of SCI maintaining good collateralization of the spinal cord perfusion network.Attention to all haemodynamic and metabolic parameters may avoid further ischemic insults to the spinal cord. CSF drainage may not be necessary in all cases of FET

This unique case reports the first recorded episode in the medical literature of vasculitis post-liver transplantation, presenting as life-threatening gastrointestinal hemorrhage. A 52-year-old Caucasian woman underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for autoimmune cirrhosis complicated by hepatoma and portal vein thrombosis. Late hepatic artery thrombosis led to a second liver graft. Following recovery from an episode of acute rejection, the patient presented with large volume hematemesis, melena, and hemochezia (passage of fresh blood from the rectum). Following upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy and surgery, angiography illustrated the presence of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), which was successfully treated with high-dose steroid therapy. Gastrointestinal hemorrhage is an unusual presentation of vasculitis, especially PAN. The occurrence of this phenomenon post-OLT, in the presence of immunosuppression is previously unreported.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare multisystem disease. Progressive airflow limitation, pneumothorax and angiomyolipoma-related bleeding are major morbidities. As treatments are available for these complications, we prospectively audited loss of FEV1 (ΔFEV1), pneumothorax and angiomyolipoma bleeding against clinical standards over 4 years at the UK Clinical Centre. ΔFEV1 for these patients is lower than previously reported and rates of pneumothorax and angiomyolipoma haemorrhage are low. This suggests that real-time analysis of clinical data with targeted interventions can reduce morbidity in LAM. These measures could be applied as quality standards to compare the emerging LAM clinical networks worldwide.

Introduction: At present, there are not risk scoring tools to predict in-hospital mortality for total aortic arch replacement (TAR), Hypothesis: To assess if Logistic Euroscore (LogES) is a useful tool for risk assessment in aortic arch surgery and which other operative factors may help to better identify high-risk patients. Methods: All patients who underwent open arch procedure between 1998 and 2013 were identified from our prospectively collected database which include 93 preoperative variables. Results: Three-hundred-fifty-seven open arch procedures were identified. Two-hundred-forty-two patients underwent TAR, 199 with conventional technique and 43 with frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique. Patients with higher LogES had higher in-hospital mortality (see table 1). Patient with a LogEs 60 were classified as low-, high- or very high-risk, respectively. Complexity of surgery, defined as need for aortic root replacement (ARR) and/or mitral valve repair/replacement (MVR), increased significantly the risk of operation (27% vs. 4.2%, p:0.004) only in conventional TAR in high-risk patients. Low-risk patients were associated with low mortality regardless the extent of surgery whilst very high risk-patients had a high-risk of death even with simple operations. Mortality risk in FET was not increased by need for ARR/MVR. Rate of permanent neurological deficit remained low in all category of patients. Spinal cord injury (SCI) did not occur in any conventional TAR. Conclusions: Open surgery should remain the treatment of choice for patients with low/moderate LogES and high LogES without need for ARR/MVR. Patient with very-high LogES who do not need ARR/MVR should be consider for endovascular repair. Patient with high and very-high LogES and need for ARR/MVR cannot undergo endovascular treatment and remain a significant challenge. FET remains a procedure with an increase risk of death and SCI.

ObjectiveTo map out the current provision of interventional oncology (IO) services in the UK.DesignCross-sectional multicentre study.SettingAll National Health Service (NHS) trusts in England and Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland health boards.ParticipantsInterventional radiology (IR) departments in all NHS trusts/health boards in the UK.ResultsA total of 179 NHS trusts/health boards were contacted. We received a 100% response rate. Only 19 (11%) institutions had an IO lead. 144 trusts (80%) provided IO services or had a formal pathway of referral in place for patients to a recipient trust. 21 trusts (12%) had plans to provide an IO service or formal referral pathway in the next 12 months only. 14 trusts (8%) did not have a pathway of referral and no plans to implement one. 70 trusts (39%) offered supportive and disease-modifying procedures. One trust had a formal referral pathway for supportive procedures. 73 trusts (41%) provided only supportive procedures (diagnostic or therapeutic). Of these, 43 (59%) had a referral pathway for disease-modifying IO procedures, either from a regional cancer network or through IR networks and 30 trusts (41%) did not have a referral pathway for disease-modifying procedures.ConclusionThe provision of IO services in the UK is promising; however, collaborative networks are necessary to ensure disease-modifying IO procedures are made accessible to all patients and to facilitate larger registry data for research with commissioning of new services.

OBJECTIVES Open total aortic arch replacement (TAR) in high-risk patients is considered by some to be associated with a prohibitively perioperative risk. Recent reports describe hybrid techniques to treat this group. We reviewed our outcomes of open surgery in a 'high-risk' group of patients. METHODS All patients who underwent open TAR between 2000 and 2013 were identified from our prospectively maintained database. Patients comparable with the ones who underwent hybrid repair in previous studies (logistic EuroSCORE between 20 and 60 without intervention on the aortic root or on the mitral/tricuspid valve) were selected for analysis. RESULTS Fifty-eight patients were identified. Median logistic EuroSCORE was 27.4 (range 20-57) and median age was 76 years (34.5% male). There were 11 resternotomies (18.9%) and 20 procedures were urgent/emergency (34.5%). Preoperative comorbidities included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (31%), coronary artery disease (22.4%), peripheral vascular disease (48.3%), previous stroke (5.2%), previous myocardial infarction (3.4%) and left ventricular dysfunction (12%). Concomitant procedures included aortic valve replacement/resuspension (58.7%), coronary artery bypass grafting (22.4%), open descending aorta replacement (10.3%) and frozen elephant trunk (19%). Overall in-hospital mortality, permanent stroke and spinal cord injury rate were 6.9, 1.7 and 0%, respectively. There were no deaths or stroke in the elective group. One-year, 5-year and 10-year estimates of survival were 82.7, 70.0 and 37.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Open TAR can be performed with low mortality and morbidity and excellent long-term results even in high-risk patients. Total endovascular repair may represent an option for patients not suitable for open surgery.

Clinical Summary A 31-year-old woman was admitted to a peripheral hospital with an episode of massive hematemesis. She had undergone a patchtechnique coarctation repair at age 3 years and required balloon dilatation for recoarctation at age 14 years. Annual cardiologic follow-up detected, at age 26 years, a pseudoaneurysm at the coarctation site with dimensions of 2.4 1.9 cm. The pseudoaneurysm size remained stable, but 8 months before the hematemesis, TEVAR was recommended to avert any risk of rupture and a Jomed 48 20-mm covered stent (Abbott Vascular Ltd, Kent, United Kingdom) was deployed at the coarctation site pseudoaneurysm. Post-TEVAR imaging suggested satisfactory exclusion. After the hematemesis, she underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, which showed a 1.5-cm bluish polypoid lesion 26 cm from the incisura. Biopsy revealed blood clot only. She was discharged but readmitted 4 weeks later with a further massive hematemesis. A repeat esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed that the lesion had enlarged 3-fold. This finding, together with the history of coarctation surgery, prompted a computed tomographic (CT) scan (Figure 1), which demonstrated a perigraft hematoma suggestive of AEF. After transfer to our center, aortography confirmed peri–stent-graft extravasation, further supporting a diagnosis of AEF. Another covered stent (38 12 mm, Jostent; Abbott Vascular Ltd) was deployed and the hematemesis abated. However, a postprocedure angiogram demonstrated persistent filling of the pseudoaneurysm. The incomplete pseudoaneurysm exclusion and the perceived risk of further complications prompted surgical referral. Echocardiography demonstrated moderate bicuspid aortic valve stenosis. Surgery was performed via a transsternal thoracotomy in the left fourth intercostal space and comprised mechanical aortic valve replacement, retrocardiac ascending–descending aortic conduit insertion, and an interposition graft between the conduit and the left subclavian artery. The aortic arch was staple-ligated between the left common carotid artery and the left subclavian artery. The descending aorta was stapled below the stent site. The aortic pseudoaneurysm was opened and the previously placed stents were removed. Inspection revealed a section of necrotic and partially absent aortic wall with erosion of the longitudinal esophageal muscle but no mucosal breach. It was assumed that stent deployment had perforated or disintegrated the aortic wall leading to an AEF. The aortic remnant was left open, a feeding enterostomy and decompression gastrostomy performed, and the chest closed with drainage. Recovery was uneventful, with a contrast swallow examination showing no abnormalities. At 12 months, the patient remains free of symptoms, and CT scan (Figure 2) demonstrates resolution of perigraft hematoma and satisfactory anatomic reconfiguration.