Vascular access for hemodialysis: pathologic features of surgically excised ePTFE grafts.

We analyzed 52 surgically excised ePTFE grafts used as secondary vascular access in chronic hemodialysis patients, structurally and histopathologically. Pseudoaneurysm formation at the site of repeated venipuncture was the main cause of surgical removal later than two years after implantation. Repeated needle punctures, twice per treatment, two or three times a week may result in a perigraft fibrous tissue capsule directly above areas where the graft was punctured.

[Abdominal angina: percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the superior mesenteric artery].

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) was performed in a 65-year-old man with clinical and radiographic evidence of abdominal angina. The patient was relieved of abdominal pain immediately after the dilatation. At the angiographic follow-up (7 months later) the SMA was of normal caliber.