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The dural vascularization of the skull base and proximal nervous structures, depends on the external carotid artery, internal carotid artery and vertebral artery branches. The authors describe these branches, emphasizing possible anastomoses between them, and present images from their own experience. Such arterio-arterial anastomosis represent incomplete regressions of embryologic arterial connections and are always present, but functionally inactive. It is usually in the presence of pathologic situations (stroke, tumours, dural fistulas) that they become active and, therefore, special care is necessary if endovascular procedures with embolic material are to be performed.

Dural arterio-venous shunts (DAVS) of the anterior cranial fossa are quite rare. There are only a few cases reported in the literature. The authors present 5 cases of dural arterio-venous shunts (DAVS) of the anterior cranial fossa, allowing more data for later reviews of this rare and aggressive localisation of DAVS. The clinical set, imaging findings (with emphasis in diagnostic angiography), treatment and outcome in these 5 patients are described. Haemorrhage was the presenting form in 4 patients; the other case presented was investigated for headache. There were bilateral symmetric feeders in two patients, unilateral feeders in another two and unilateral predominant feeders in one; contribution of the external carotid artery, when present, was always minimal. Venous drainage included one or combinations of these: superior sagittal sinus, sylvian veins and cavernous sinus. Three patients had venous aneurysms in anterior cranial fossa; of these, two presented with haemorrhage, but the third one of them has been asymptomatic for 7 years. Three patients were treated by surgical exclusion of the shunt and became clinical and angiographicaly normal. According to the literature, our cases confirm the highly aggressive behaviour of these DAVS. Surgical treatment is an efficacious method of therapy and should be done as soon as possible. Embolization can be attempted but is technically difficult and eventually too expensive.

Epithelioid angiosarcoma is a rare high-grade vascular neoplasm with a poor prognosis. We present an anticoagulated 77-year-old man, with a history of popliteal/soleal vein thrombosis in the previous month, complaining of ipsilateral persistent lower limb pain and claudication. Absent popliteal/distal pulses prompted an arterial doppler ultrasound (DUS), revealing thrombosis of the distal superficial femoral artery and a popliteal mass. As the arterial wall's integrity could not be appropriately evaluated by DUS, adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery was suspected. Computed tomography angiography and magnetic resonance imaging findings were also suggestive. Due to refractory pain, he was submitted to a popliteal mass excision along with a femoral-posterior tibial bypass. Pathology revealed an epithelioid angiosarcoma. He was referred to a Sarcoma Center, requiring hospitalization for agitation and fever. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan revealed extensive lower limb disease persistence and distant metastases. He died on the 56th day after surgery. To our knowledge, there are only 15 cases of angiosarcoma of the popliteal artery described in the literature. Ours stands out as the first one unrelated to a popliteal aneurysm. Being a highly-aggressive tumor, an early diagnosis is challenging but essential to a successful treatment, warranting the need for suspicion of this neoplasm. An early core biopsy or surgical sample may expedite the diagnosis.

Introduction: Commonly used chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) classifications lack granularity and detail to precisely stratify patients according to risk of limb loss, expected revascularization benefit and mortality. The aim of this study is to evaluate in a Portuguese population the prognostic value of an updated CLTI classification based on Wound, Ischemia, and foot Infection (WIfI) proposed by the Society for Vascular Surgery., Materials and Methods: Single-center retrospective evaluation of prospectively collected data of consecutive patients with CLTI submitted to lower limb revascularization from January to December of 2017. All consecutive patients with chronic peripheral artery disease with ischemic rest pain or tissue loss were included. The exclusion criteria were patients with intermittent claudication, vascular trauma, acute ischemia, non-atherosclerotic arterial disease and isolated iliac intervention. The primary end-point was major limb amputation, mortality and amputation-free survival (AFS) at 30 days, 1 year and 2 year follow-up. Secondary end-points were minor amputation, wound healing time (WHT) and rate (WHR)., Results: A total of 111 patients with CLTI were submitted to infra-inguinal revascularization: 91 endovascular and 20 open surgery. After categorizing them according to the WIfI: 20 had stage 1 (18.52%), 29 stage 2 (26.85%), 38 stage 3 (35.19%) and 21 stage 4 (19.44%). Overall mortality rate was 1.8%, 17% and 22.3% at 30 days, 1 year and 2 years follow-up. Major amputation rate was 0.9%, 2.7% and 2.7% at 30 days, 1 year and 2 years follow-up. AFS rate was 97.3%, 82.1%, and 76.8% at 30 days, 1 year, 2 years follow-up. In multi-variable analysis, higher WIfI score was the only predictive factor for mortality and AFS. WIfI 3 and 4 were also associated with increased risk of non-healing ulcer., Conclusion: This study proved the prognostic value of the WIfI classification in a Portuguese population by showing an association between higher scores and increased mortality, lower AFS and non-healing ulcer.

Breakthroughs in precision cell surface engineering tools are supporting the rapid development of programmable living assemblies with valuable features for tackling complex biological problems. Herein, the authors overview the most recent technological advances in chemically- and biologically-driven toolboxes for engineering mammalian cell surfaces and triggering their assembly into living architectures. A particular focus is given to surface engineering technologies for enabling biomimetic cell-cell social interactions and multicellular cell-sorting events. Further advancements in cell surface modification technologies may expand the currently available bioengineering toolset and unlock a new generation of personalized cell therapeutics with clinically relevant biofunctionalities. The combination of state-of-the-art cell surface modifications with advanced biofabrication technologies is envisioned to contribute toward generating living materials with increasing tissue/organ-mimetic bioactivities and therapeutic potential., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Buerger's disease is a distal segmental nonatherosclerotic vasculopathy that involves the inferior and superior limbs of smoker males younger than 45 years old. This article aims to describe a clinical case and revise the literature about Buerger's disease. A 45-year-old smoker male repeatedly visited the emergency department for refractory pain and inflammatory signs in the right hallux. After developing ulcers in the right foot, Doppler ultrasonography revealed segmental occlusion of distal arteries of that limb. It was also observed in arteriography "corkscrew" collaterals. Autoimmune, thrombophilic and cardiovascular diseases were excluded. Analgesia, antibiotics and alprostadil were implemented. As a result, the patient stopped smoking and was submitted to minor amputation with complete healing, after which he remained asymptomatic. Buerger's disease is a diagnosis of exclusion. Therefore, smoking cessation is the most effective treatment and is crucial to prevent disease progression.

Hypertension is, in a minority of cases, secondary to an identifiable cause. In this context, the aetiology of the blood pressure elevation is essential since it may be treatable. We present a case of a young woman with hypertension secondary to fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) of the renal artery in which the endovascular treatment was crucial for its management.

Lemierre's syndrome refers to infectious thrombophlebitis of the internal jugular vein developed as complication of an oropharyngeal infection. It is a rare syndrome, affecting otherwise healthy young adults, which may lead to sepsis complicated by septic embolization. Although there is a characteristic clinical picture, many modern physicians are unaware of this syndrome, leading it to be termed 'the forgotten disease'. The authors report a case of late diagnosis due to initial suspicion of COVID-19 and highlight the pitfalls on its diagnosis.

Introduction: Phlegmasia cerulea dolens is a potentially life-threatening complication of deep venous thrombosis, causing marked swelling and sudden severe pain in the limb, associated with cyanosis, edema and compartment syndrome that together compromise arterial supply. There is no consensus on its treatment., Case Report: A 36-year-old woman, with a history of cosmetic surgery 8 days before admission (abdominal liposuction), was admitted to the emergency department with edema, cyanosis, severe pain, decreased temperature and tenderness of the left lower limb. At physical exam, no distal pulses on the left lower limb were found. Angio-CT was performed, showing occlusion of left femoral vein, external and common iliac veins. The patient started treatment with enoxaparin (80 mg, subcutaneous, bid) and percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy (PMT) of the left iliac vein sector was performed, followed by balloon angioplasty and stenting of the left iliac vein sector. It was also deployed a temporary filter in the inferior vena cava. Thrombophilic workup was negative. The patient presented thorough clinical remission after the procedure (Villalta score 0). Two years after surgery, the patient is asymptomatic, and the Doppler ultrasound is unremarkable concerning morphologic changes throughout the left iliac vein sector., Conclusion: The treatment of phlegmasia cerulea dolens is challenging due to its severity and poor prognosis. Minimally invasive procedures, such as PMT can be an alternative to open surgery. It can also avoid the use of thrombolytics in patients with relative / absolute contraindications to its use.

Objectives: To analyse the safety and outcomes of endovascular procedures in an ambulatory practice., Methods: Data were collected from a cohort of patients admitted in an ambulatory unit for an endovascular procedure for lower limb (LL) arterial occlusive disease during a one year period., Results: A total of 168 procedures were carried out in 134 patients. Patients' mean age was 67 (39-91) years and 78% were male. Most patients presented with lower limb ulcer or gangrene (43%) or disabling claudication (40%). Most frequent comorbidities included hypertension (75.4%), dyslipidemia (72.4%) and diabetes mellitus (57.5%). The preferred vascular access for the procedures was the common femoral artery (52%), superficial femoral artery (24%) and humeral artery (21%). Global complication rate was 19% but only one major, non-fatal complication was identified. The most common complication was arterial dissection (8.3%), none compromising blood flow. One-year amputation rate was 6.7%, and one-year mortality was 3.0%. Factors significantly associated with procedure complications were female sex, hypertension and dyslipidemia., Conclusion: Ambulatory endovascular procedures for PAD are safe and effective in selected patients. Both the low rate and low severity of complications make them an attractive option in the prospect of diminishing the burden of these patients on the health-care system while improving patient comfort.

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Dural arterio-venous shunts (DAVS) of the anterior cranial fossa are quite rare. There are only a few cases reported in the literature. The authors present 5 cases of dural arterio-venous shunts (DAVS) of the anterior cranial fossa, allowing more data for later reviews of this rare and aggressive localisation of DAVS. The clinical set, imaging findings (with emphasis in diagnostic angiography), treatment and outcome in these 5 patients are described. Haemorrhage was the presenting form in 4 patients; the other case presented was investigated for headache. There were bilateral symmetric feeders in two patients, unilateral feeders in another two and unilateral predominant feeders in one; contribution of the external carotid artery, when present, was always minimal. Venous drainage included one or combinations of these: superior sagittal sinus, sylvian veins and cavernous sinus. Three patients had venous aneurysms in anterior cranial fossa; of these, two presented with haemorrhage, but the third one of them has been asymptomatic for 7 years. Three patients were treated by surgical exclusion of the shunt and became clinical and angiographicaly normal. According to the literature, our cases confirm the highly aggressive behaviour of these DAVS. Surgical treatment is an efficacious method of therapy and should be done as soon as possible. Embolization can be attempted but is technically difficult and eventually too expensive.

The dural vascularization of the skull base and proximal nervous structures, depends on the external carotid artery, internal carotid artery and vertebral artery branches. The authors describe these branches, emphasizing possible anastomoses between them, and present images from their own experience. Such arterio-arterial anastomosis represent incomplete regressions of embryologic arterial connections and are always present, but functionally inactive. It is usually in the presence of pathologic situations (stroke, tumours, dural fistulas) that they become active and, therefore, special care is necessary if endovascular procedures with embolic material are to be performed.