Editor's Choice -- Survival, Limb Salvage, and Management of Patients with Lower Limb Acute Ischaemia: A French National Retrospective Observational Study.

Objective: The aim was to describe the baseline characteristics of French patients referred with acute limb ischaemia (ALI), and their clinical management and outcome (death, amputation).

Methods: This retrospective observational cohort study used the National Health Data System. All adults hospitalised for ALI who underwent revascularisation with an endovascular or open surgical approach between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2020 were included and followed up until death or the end of the study (31 December 2021).

Predictive Factors of Amputation in Infrainguinal Vascular Trauma: A Monocentric Experience.

Background: Infrainguinal vascular injuries (IIVIs) are emergencies involving both functional and vital prognosis. The choice between saving the limb or doing a first-line amputation is difficult even for an experienced surgeon. The aims of this work are to analyze early outcomes in our center and to identify predictive factors for amputation.

Predictive Factors of Stent Patency in Iliofemoral Venous Diseases in a Multicentre Cohort Study.

Objective: This study assessed primary stent patency predictive factors in three groups of patients with history of lower limb (LL) vein thrombosis: non-thrombotic iliac vein lesion (NIVL), acute deep vein thrombosis (aDVT), and post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS).

Methods: Consecutive patients from January 2014 to December 2020 with history of LL vein stenting from seven hospitals were included. All patients received an iliac or common femoral venous stent and had at least a six month follow up available with stent imaging.

Current results of left gonadal vein transposition to treat nutcracker syndrome.

Objective: Nutcracker syndrome can cause disabling chronic pain requiring surgical intervention. At present, data describing a straightforward management approach are lacking. Transposition of the left gonadal vein is one of the surgical therapeutic alternatives.

The persistent sciatic artery: Report of ten cases.

Objective: The persistent sciatic artery (PSA) is a rare congenital anomaly with a high rate of aneurysm formation, occlusion and stenosis. It may lead to severe complications including thrombosis, distal embolisation, or aneurysm rupture. We reported herein our experience in the management of PSA and its complications, and discuss the therapeutic options.

Endovascular Treatment for Venous Diseases: Where are the Venous Stents?

There is a growing need for dedicated endovascular devices to treat pathologies affecting the venous system. However, because of a lack of research into venous diseases and treatments, the optimal design, material, and mechanical properties of venous stents remain unknown. Development of the ideal venous stent should be based on a thorough understanding of the underlying venous pathology.

Aortic Anatomy and Complications of the Proximal Sealing Zone after Endovascular Treatment of the Thoracic Aorta.

Background: Technical and clinical success of thoracic aortic endovascular procedures relies mainly on the choice of the proximal sealing zone (PSZ). The latter can be affected by multiple complications, all of them having a potential gravity and a direct link with the quality of the PSZ. The objective of this study was to analyze the risk factors of PSZ complications occurrence.

Outcomes analysis of stent-graft repair for thoracic aorta emergencies.

Background: This study aimed to identify patient, pathology and procedure-related factors affecting perioperative and mid-term mortality of thoracic aorta emergencies.

Methods: Between 2007 and 2014, patients treated emergently with thoracic stent-graft were retrospectively reviewed. Variables analyzed were: age, renal insufficiency, shock, cardiac arrest, transfer status, pathology, debranching procedures, operation duration, vascular access and European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE).

Factors Associated with Contralateral Deep Venous Thrombosis after Iliocaval Venous Stenting.

Background: The majority of iliac venous obstructions occur on the left side, and endovascular therapy has become the first line treatment for this condition. A left common iliac venous stent will protrude into the inferior vena cava (IVC) to some extent, thereby covering the contralateral common iliac vein (CIV) outflow. This may increase the risk of thrombosis of the contralateral iliac vein.

Risk Factor Analysis for the Mal-Positioning of Thoracic Aortic Stent Grafts.

Objective: The present study aimed at quantifying mal-positioning during thoracic endovascular aortic repair and analysing the extent to which anatomical factors influence the exact stent graft positioning.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of patients treated between 2007 and 2014 with a stent graft for whom proximal landing zones (LZ) could be precisely located by anatomical fixed landmarks, that is LZ 1, 2, or 3. The study included 66 patients (54 men; mean age 51 years, range 17-83 years) treated for traumatic aortic rupture (n = 27), type B aortic dissection (n = 21), thoracic aortic aneurysm (n = 8), penetrating aortic ulcer (n = 5), intramural hematoma (n = 1), and floating aortic thrombus (n = 4).

Risk Factor Analysis of Bird Beak Occurrence after Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair.

Objectives: The aim was to analyze the role played by anatomy and stent graft in the incidence of incomplete apposition to aortic arch.

Methods: Between 2007 and 2014 data including available and suitable computed tomographic angiography (CTA) imaging of patients who had undergone thoracic endovascular aortic repair were reviewed. The study included 80 patients (65 men, 54 ± 21 years) treated for traumatic aortic rupture (n = 27), thoracic aortic aneurysm (n = 15), type B aortic dissection (n = 24), penetrating aortic ulcer (n = 5), intramural hematoma (n = 2), aorto-oesophageal fistula (n = 2), and aortic mural thrombus (n = 5).

Embolization is essential in the treatment of leg varicosities due to pelvic venous insufficiency.

Purpose: Pelvic venous insuffiency (PVI) can be responsible for pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS) and also lower limb varicose veins.

Material And Methods: Charts of all women who had pelvic venography for PVI from September 2013 to August 2014 were reviewed. The procedure was performed under local anesthesia through left femoral approach.

Atheromatous occlusive lesions of the popliteal artery treated with stent grafts: predictive factors of midterm patency.

Background: Because of its location, the popliteal artery is exposed to important biomechanical constraints, inducing a specific risk of thrombosis of stents, little studied in the literature. The objective of this monocentric retrospective study was to evaluate the patency of stents implanted in the popliteal artery to treat atheromatous lesions and the risk factors predisposing to thrombosis.

Methods: Between January 2009 and July 2013, all the patients receiving stents for a residual stenosis or a complication of angioplasty in the popliteal artery or the distal anastomosis of a femoropopliteal bypass were included retrospectively and in an intention to treat.

Zebrafish vasa is required for germ-cell differentiation and maintenance.

Vasa is a universal marker of the germ line in animals, yet mutations disrupting vasa cause sexually dimorphic infertility, with impaired development of the ovary in some animals and the testis in others. The basis for this sexually dimorphic requirement for Vasa is not clear; in most animals examined, both the male and female gonad express vasa throughout the life of the germ line. Here we characterized a loss-of-function mutation disrupting zebrafish vasa.

Oocyte polarity requires a Bucky ball-dependent feedback amplification loop.

In vertebrates, the first asymmetries are established along the animal-vegetal axis during oogenesis, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Bucky ball (Buc) was identified in zebrafish as a novel vertebrate-specific regulator of oocyte polarity, acting through unknown molecular interactions. Here we show that endogenous Buc protein localizes to the Balbiani body, a conserved, asymmetric structure in oocytes that requires Buc for its formation.

Elective stent-graft treatment for the management of thoracic aorta mural thrombus.

Background: Optimal management of aorta mural thrombus (AMT) continues to be controversial. The aim of this study was to describe the management of AMT in the thoracic aorta with either conservative or stent-graft treatment and to analyze the role of morphological characteristics of thrombus in the selection of suitable candidates for intervention.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of all patients admitted for thoracic AMT.

Subintimal recanalization plus stenting or bypass for management of claudicants with femoro-popliteal occlusions.

Objective: To assess a practice of claudicant revascularization with either subintimal angioplasty (SIA) plus stenting or femoropopliteal bypass.

Methods: All claudicants related to femoropopliteal occlusions treated either with above-the-knee femoropopliteal (AKFP) bypass (group 1) or SIA and stent (group 2) between 2004 and 2011 were reviewed. The two groups were analyzed with regard to patency and freedom from re-intervention.

Endovascular management of severe bleeding after major abdominal surgery.

Background: In this study we analyzed embolization and stent-graft results.

Methods: Demographics, indications, procedures, and outcomes of patients treated with embolization or stent grafting for late postoperative bleeding after major abdominal surgery were retrospectively recorded. Outcomes were analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis.

Pluripotent stem cell models of Shwachman-Diamond syndrome reveal a common mechanism for pancreatic and hematopoietic dysfunction.

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS), a rare autosomal-recessive disorder characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and hematopoietic dysfunction, is caused by mutations in the Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS) gene. We created human pluripotent stem cell models of SDS through knockdown of SBDS in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and generation of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from two patients with SDS. SBDS-deficient hESCs and iPSCs manifest deficits in exocrine pancreatic and hematopoietic differentiation in vitro, enhanced apoptosis, and elevated protease levels in culture supernatants, which could be reversed by restoring SBDS protein expression through transgene rescue or by supplementing culture media with protease inhibitors.

Induced pluripotent stem cells with a mitochondrial DNA deletion.

In congenital mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) disorders, a mixture of normal and mutated mtDNA (termed heteroplasmy) exists at varying levels in different tissues, which determines the severity and phenotypic expression of disease. Pearson marrow pancreas syndrome (PS) is a congenital bone marrow failure disorder caused by heteroplasmic deletions in mtDNA. The cause of the hematopoietic failure in PS is unknown, and adequate cellular and animal models are lacking.