Search

Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective: Vascular surgery registries report on procedures and outcomes to promote patient safety and drive quality improvement. International registries have contributed significantly to the VASCUNET collaborative abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) outcome projects. This scoping review aimed to outline the national registries in vascular surgery that currently participate in the VASCUNET collaborative AAA projects., Methods: A scoping review of all published VASCUNET AAA studies and validation reports between 1997 and 2024 was undertaken. A survey was conducted among representatives of the international vascular registries contributing to VASCUNET collaborative AAA projects., Results: Currently, vascular registries from 10 countries (Australia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK) contribute to the current VASCUNET collaborative AAA project, of which eight have national coverage. In the past, three countries (Germany, Malta, and Italy) have participated in previous VASCUNET AAA projects, and a further three countries (Serbia, Greece, and Portugal) have planned participation in future projects. External validity is high for all current registries, with most reporting rates of > 90%. The majority have internal validation processes to assess data accuracy. VASCUNET mediated validation has also been performed by the consortium for five countries to date (Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Malta, and Switzerland), for which a high degree of external and internal validity was identified. Most registries have established mechanisms for data linkage with national administrative datasets or insurance claims datasets and contribute to quality improvement through regular reporting to participating centres., Conclusion: National vascular registries from nations participating in the VASCUNET collaborative AAA projects are largely comprehensive, with high case ascertainment rates and good quality data with internal quality assurance. This provides a template for new registries wishing to join the VASCUNET collaboration and a benchmark for future research., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The International Commission on Radiological Protection has highlighted the large number of medical specialties that use fluoroscopy outside diagnostic imaging departments without radiation protection programmes for patients and staff. Vascular surgery is one of these specialties. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is a complicated procedure requiring radiation protection guidance and optimisation. The recent EU Basic Safety Standards Directive requires the use and periodic updating of diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for interventional procedures. The aim of this study was to determine doses for patients undergoing TEVAR with mobile Xray systems and hybrid rooms (fixed Xray systems) to obtain national DRLs and to suggest optimisation actions., Methods: This was a retrospective cross sectional study. The Spanish Chapter of Endovascular Surgery conducted a national survey in 11 autonomous communities representing around 77.6% of the Spanish population (47.33 million inhabitants). A total of 266 TEVAR procedures from 17 Spanish centres were analysed, of which 53.0% were performed in hybrid operating rooms. National DRLs were obtained and defined as the third quartile of the median values from the different participating centres., Results: The proposed national DRLs are: for kerma area product (KAP), 113.81 Gy·cm 2 for mobile Xray systems and 282.59 Gy·cm 2 for hybrid rooms; and for cumulative air kerma (CAK) at the patient entry reference point, 228.38 mGy for mobile systems and 910.64 mGy for hybrid rooms., Conclusion: Based on the requirement to know radiation doses for standard endovascular procedures, this study of TEVARs demonstrated that there is an increased factor of 2.48 in DRLs for KAP when the procedure is performed in a hybrid room compared with mobile C-arm systems, and an increased factor of 3.98 in DRLs for CAK when the procedure is performed with hybrid equipment. These results will help to optimise strategies to reduce radiation doses during TEVAR procedures., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The widespread adoption of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) as preferred treatment modality for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has enlarged the number of patients needing open surgical conversion (OSC). The relationship between adherence to Instructions For Use (IFU) and EVAR long-term outcomes remains controversial. The aim of this study is to compare preoperative differences and postoperative outcomes between EVAR patients not adjusted to IFU and adjusted to IFU who underwent OSC., Methods: This multicenter retrospective study reviewed 33 explanted EVARs between January 2003 and December 2019 at 14 Vascular Units. Patients were included if OSC occurred >30 days after implantation and excluded if explantation was performed to treat an endograft infection, aortic dissection, or traumatic transections. Variables analyzed included baseline characteristics, adherence to IFU, implant and explant procedural details, secondary reinterventions, and postoperative outcomes., Results: Fifteen explanted patients (15/33, 45.5%) were identified not accomplished to IFU (out-IFU) at initial EVAR vs 18 explanted patients adjusted (in-IFU). During follow-up, a mean of 1.73±1.2 secondary reinterventions were performed, with more type I endoleaks treated in the subgroup out-IFU: 16.7% vs 6.3% in-IFU patients and more type III endoleaks (8.3% vs 0%). Patients out-IFU had shorter mean interval from implant to explant: 47.60±28.8 months vs 71.17±48. Type II endoleak was the most frequent indication for explantation. Low-flow endoleaks (types II, IV, V) account for 44% of indications for OSC in subgroup of patients in-IFU, compared with 13.3% in patients out-IFU and high-flow endoleaks (types I and III) were the main indication for patients out-IFU (33.3% vs 16.7% in-IFU). Total endograft explantation was performed in 57.5% of cases (19/33) and more suprarenal clamping was required in the subgroup out-IFU. Overall, 30-day mortality rate was 12.1% (4/33): 20% for patients out-IFU and 5.6% in-IFU., Conclusions: In our experience, type II endoleak is the most common indication for conversion and differences have been found between patients treated outside IFU with explantation taking place earlier during follow-up, mainly due to high-flow endoleaks and with higher mortality in comparison with patients adjusted to IFU. Ongoing research is required to delve into these differences., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective: The need for open surgical conversion (OSC) after failed endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) persists, despite expanding endovascular options for secondary intervention. The VASCUNExplanT project collected international data to identify risk factors for failed EVAR, as well as OSC outcomes. This retrospective cross sectional study analysed data after OSC for failed EVAR from the VASCUNET international collaboration., Methods: VASCUNET queried registries from its 28 member countries, and 17 collaborated with data from patients who underwent OSC (2005 - 2020). Any OSC for infection was excluded. Data included demographics, EVAR, and OSC procedural details, as well as post-operative mortality and complication rates., Results: There were 348 OSC patients from 17 centres, of whom 33 (9.4%) were women. There were 130 (37.4%) devices originally deployed outside of instructions for use. The most common indication for OSC was endoleak (n = 143, 41.1%); ruptures accounted for 17.2% of cases. The median time from EVAR to OSC was 48.6 months [IQR 29.7, 71.6]; median abdominal aortic aneurysm diameter at OSC was 70.5 mm [IQR 61, 82]. A total of 160 (45.6%) patients underwent one or more re-interventions prior to OSC, while 63 patients (18.1%) underwent more than one re-intervention (range 1 - 5). Overall, the 30 day mortality rate post-OSC was 11.8% (n = 41), 11.1% for men and 18.2% for women (p = .23). The 30 day mortality rate was 6.1% for elective cases, and 28.3% for ruptures (p < .0001). The predicted 90 day survival for the entire cohort was 88.3% (95% CI 84.3 - 91.3). Multivariable analysis revealed rupture (OR 4.23; 95% CI 2.05 - 8.75; p < .0001) and total graft explantation (OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.02 - 4.34; p = .04) as the only statistically significant predictive factors for 30 day death., Conclusion: This multicentre analysis of patients who underwent OSC shows that, despite varying case mix and operative techniques, OSC is feasible but associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates, particularly when performed for rupture., (Copyright © 2023 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess practice patterns and short-term outcome after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), based on an international vascular registry collaboration., Summary Background Data: TEVAR has become the primary surgical treatment modality for descending aortic pathologies, and has expanded to new patient cohorts, including the elderly., Methods: Data on thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA), type B aortic dissections (TBAD), and traumatic aortic injuries (TAI) treated with TEVAR from 2012 to 2016 were retrieved from registries and centers in 13 countries., Results: Nine-thousand five-hundred eighteen TEVAR for TAA ( n = 4436), TBAD ( n = 3976) and TAI ( n = 1106) were included. The distribution of TEVAR procedures per pathology varied, with TAA repair constituting from 40% of TEVARs in the US to 72% in the UK ( P < 0.001).Mean intact TAA (iTAA) diameter varied from 59 (US) to 69 mm (Nancy, France) ( P < 0.001), 25.3% of patients having a diameter of <60 mm. Perioperative mortality after iTAA repair was 4.9%; combined mortality, stroke, paraplegia, and renal replacement therapy outcome was 12.8%. 18.6% of iTAA patients were ≥80 years old. Mortality was higher in this group (7.2%) than in patients <80 (3.8%) ( P < 0.001). After rTAA repair, perioperative mortality was 26.8%.Mortality was 9.7% after acute (within 14 days from onset of dissection) and 3.0% after chronic TBAD repair ( P < 0.001). Mortality after TAI was 7.8%, and depended on injury severity (grade IV (free rupture) 20.9%)., Conclusions: This registry collaboration provides a unique platform to evaluate cross-border patterns of use and outcomes of TEVAR. A common core dataset is proposed, to achieve harmonization of registry-based quality outcome measures for TEVAR., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and source of funding: AWB: Contracted research: Cook Medical; Medtronic, Inc.; Terumo Aortic; W.L. Gore & Associates. Consulting: Cook Medical, Cryolife, Medtronic, Inc.; Terumo Aortic. KM: Consulting: Cook Medical Inc., Institutional funds: Cook Medical Inc. and Gore Medical., (Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Popliteal venous aneurysms are an uncommon clinical entity although they have been the subject of a number of published clinical cases. Herein we have conducted an updated review of reports of these aneurysms while also describing our own experience with 4 such cases over the last 10 years., Methods: A systematic search was conducted on MEDLINE and Embase concerning popliteal venous aneurysms. We collected all information mentioned associated with their clinical morphology, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. The patients included consisted of all those from the literature reports for whom the presence of an aneurysm in the popliteal region was described, plus the 4 cases in our own series., Results: The most significant contribution was made by Sessa et al. in 2000, who recommended that this disorder be actively searched for in conventional echo-Doppler studies and, once detected, surgical repair should be undertaken by tangential aneurysmectomy with lateral venorrhaphy to prevent repeat pulmonary embolisms. In conjunction with their series, we reviewed other publications over the last 10 years to determine whether these recommendations have undergone any changes based on the new findings. We found 91 cases in addition to the 117 cases described by Sessa and colleagues as well as the 4 contributed by our group. Most of these cases do not present any specific symptomatology and are discovered by chance via echo Doppler. They are sometimes detected as a palpable mass in the popliteal fossa, with a tendency toward growth, venous thrombosis, and repeat pulmonary embolisms. Phlebography is usually left to preoperative study, and NMR and CAT are rarely used. The objective of surgical treatment is to eliminate the aneurysm while maintaining venous drainage to the limb, with the technique employed most often being tangential aneurysmectomy with lateral venorrhaphy. There are very few postoperative complications and relapses are rare., Conclusions: The most recent publications confirm the recommendations made by Sessa et al. more than 10 years ago. Thus, no further changes should be made to the current approach to treatment of venous aneurysms., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Chlamydia pneumoniae has been related to atherosclerotic disease in both seroepidemiologic and genomic studies. We performed a case-control study to determine seropositivity and DNA detection in arteries of patients with peripheral artery occlusive disease and of healthy subjects., Methods: The study included 64 patients with peripheral artery occlusive disease, and 50 control subjects who underwent varicose vein surgery, matched to the patient group for age, sex, and tobacco use. The fibrinogen level in all study subjects was measured as a marker of inflammation. Blood samples were taken from all subjects for determination of immunoglobulin (Ig) G elementary bodies (EB) against C pneumoniae with microimmunofluorescence (MIF) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and of IgA EB with ELISA. The cutoff titers were 1:32 for MIF and 1.1 for ELISA. Biopsy specimens of arterial atheromatous plaque were obtained from patients, and of pudendal artery and saphenous vein from control subjects, and were studied with hemi-nested polymerase chain reaction., Results: There were no differences in fibrinogen level between patients and controls. The prevalence of IgG anti-EB with MIF was 78% in patients and 24% in control subjects (P =.0001; odds ratio [OR], 11.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.7-27.2). Prevalence of IgG anti-EB with ELISA was 75% in patients and 16% in control subjects (P =.0001; OR, 15.7; 95% CI, 6.1-40). There were no differences in IgA anti-EB titers. Bacterial DNA was detected in 67% of atheromatous plaques versus 12% of pudendal arteries (P =.0001) and 4% of saphenous veins. A weak correlation was found between seropositivity and the presence of intravascular DNA., Conclusions: Our results support the hypothesis that C pneumoniae is related to the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic peripheral artery occlusive disease., Clinical Relevance: This study explored the infectious hypothesis in the context of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. This hypothesis has been supported by findings that certain infectious agents can cause or accelerate the course of diseases in which the possibility of a microbial cause was not previously proposed, as in the case of peptic ulcer and spongiform encephalopathy. The present study demonstrated the presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae and seropositivity in atheromatous plaques in patients with peripheral artery occlusive disease. These results contribute to a body of research that is opening up the possibility of treating atherosclerotic disease with antibiotic agents, and preventing it with immunization.