Drug Eluting Versus Covered Stent for Femoropopliteal Artery Lesions: Results of the ULTIMATE Study.

Objective: Stent grafts (SG) and drug eluting stents (DES) have emerged to combat intimal hyperplasia. It remains unclear which type of stent yields superior outcomes in femoropopliteal (FP) arterial lesions. This study compared the clinical data between the VIABAHN SG and the Eluvia DES two years after endovascular treatment.

[Thrombolytic recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) treatment in the acute ischemic stroke with limb arterial embolism; three case reports].

We report three female patients, aged 77, 89, and 92 years, with arterial emboli in their limbs that developed before and after recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) treatment for cerebral infarction. Arterial embolism in one limb developed in two patients before rt-PA treatment and in one during rt-PA treatment at the time of the first medical examination. Thrombectomy was performed in two patients.

Possible involvement of Notch signaling in the pathogenesis of Buerger's disease.

Purpose: Under pathological conditions, the Notch signal pathway is involved in the inflammatory process in arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis and angiogenesis under ischemic conditions. The purpose of this study was to observe whether or not Buerger's disease is associated with Notch signal activation.

Methods: All the patients were diagnosed between 1980 and 2009 at Nagoya University Hospital.

Subclavian artery aneurysm in Marfan syndrome.

We present a case of a left subclavian artery aneurysm in a 48-year-old man with Marfan syndrome. Aneurysms of the subclavian artery are rare in patients with Marfan syndrome. Resection of the aneurysm and interposition with a synthetic graft were performed through a supra- and infraclavicular incision, without resecting the clavicle.

Cost disparity between open repair and endovascular aneurysm repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm: a single-institute experience in Japan.

Purpose: We conducted this study to compare the cost of open surgical repair (OR) with that of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Methods: Between January 2007 and November 2008, 70 patients underwent open repair and 57 patients underwent EVAR. We evaluated the total cost, including that of the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC), that of the surgical procedure, that of materials such as grafts and guide wires, and that of the anesthesia.

Immunohistochemical properties in the patients with Buerger's disease--possible role of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 for preservation of vessel wall architecture.

Background: The architecture of the arterial wall affected with Buerger's disease has been known to be preserved in all three layers, while the one affected by arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO) is degenerated and destroyed. We analyzed affected arteries with immunohistochemical methods to clarify the differences between Buerger's disease and ASO.

Materials And Methods: Crural arteries obtained from 13 patients with Buerger's disease and 6 patients with ASO at our institute were studied.