Thromboendarterectomy of the right common iliac artery in a patient with Marfan's syndrome and restoration with a new technique.

Marfan's syndrome is a rare hereditary disease of connective tissue, the surgical interest of which is in its propensity to the development of arterial aneurysms. We describe the case of a 40-year-old male who was admitted to our hospital because of thrombosis of the right common iliac artery and who was treated with a new technique: thromboendarterectomy of the right common iliac artery and covering of the artery with a synthetic graft, in order to avoid the risk of developing an aneurysm of the endarterectomised iliac artery. This is a new technique, here described for the first time in the international literature.

Role of malignancy and preoperative embolization in the management of carotid body tumors.

The purpose of this retrospective study is to present our approach to the management of patients with carotid body tumors (CBTs), emphasizing the role of malignancy and preoperative embolization. Between 1975 and 1998 a series of 18 patients with CBTs were treated, and 16 of them underwent successful excision of the tumor. According to the Shamblin classification, six of the tumors were type I, six type II, and six type III.