Inferior vena cava filter placement: preinsertion inferior vena cava imaging.

Imaging of the vena vava prior to the insertion of an inferior vena vava (IVC) filter is mandatory to assess IVC diameter and patency, delineate anatomy and venous anomalies, and to direct filter placement for appropriate deployment and avoidance of complications. The standard imaging technique is vena cavography, although alternative methods to evaluate the inferior vena cava include carbon dioxide venography, transabdominal duplex ultrasound, and intravascular ultrasound. This manuscript will review the anatomical features, technique, and complications of pre-insertion inferior vena cava imaging and discuss alternative methods to evaluate the inferior vena cave prior to filter insertion.

Minimally invasive management of 14.5-week abdominal pregnancy without laparotomy: a novel approach using percutaneous sonographically guided feticide and systemic methotrexate.

Objective: To evaluate the possible role of a novel, minimally invasive approach to the management of abdominal pregnancy.

Methods: We hypothesized that sonographically guided feticide without subsequent laparotomy for removal of the fetus and placenta could minimize potential blood loss and would be a reasonable approach in the care of a patient who had a viable 14.5-week abdominal pregnancy with placental implantation directly over the bifurcation of the left common iliac artery.

Transhepatic thrombolysis in acute portal vein thrombosis after laparoscopic splenectomy.

Portal vein thrombosis is a relatively rare clinical entity that can result in substantial morbidity and mortality. Because of the risk of intestinal infarction, acute symptomatic portal vein thrombosis requires prompt intervention. Traditional treatment has included anticoagulation and/or systemic thrombolytic therapy.

Bedside carbon dioxide cavagrams for inferior vena cava filters: preliminary results.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using carbon dioxide (CO(2)) as a contrast agent in performing bedside inferior vena cavagrams before the insertion of vena cava filters. There was a consecutive series of patients undergoing bedside preinsertion cavagrams with inferior vena cava filter insertion. The setting was an 825-bed tertiary care hospital.

Preliminary experience with the Hutson-Russell loop cutaneous choledochojejunostomy.

In 1984, the use of a choledochojejunocutaneous fistula was described to allow balloon dilation of benign biliary strictures. Later, the use of the technique to obtain repeated access to the biliary tree in a larger series of patients was reported. The experience provided a foundation for the application of the technique in nine patients at Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center.

The middle mesenteric artery: an unusual source for colonic hemorrhage.

To the authors' knowledge, colonic hemorrhage from anomalous ventral aortic mesenteric arteries has not been described previously. They report a case in which a middle mesenteric artery with unusual vascular distribution supplied a splenic flexure hemorrhage in a 62-year-old man. Although this is a rare anomaly, a thorough understanding of the middle mesenteric artery may have important diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

Comparison of balloon angioplasty and laser thermal angioplasty in the treatment of femoropopliteal atherosclerotic disease: initial results of a prospective randomized trial. Work in progress.

The authors recently initiated a prospective randomized trial in which results of standard balloon angioplasty were compared with those of laser thermal angioplasty in the treatment of patients with symptoms of femoropopliteal occlusive disease. The data regarding their initial technical success are reported herein. Twenty-five patients with moderate to severe claudication have thus far undergone 27 procedures.

Computed tomography of intralobar bronchopulmonary sequestration supplied from the renal artery.

Intralobar bronchopulmonary sequestration typically receives systemic arterial supply from the descending thoracic or upper abdominal aorta. Isolated reports have documented supply from branch vessels of the abdominal aorta, including the celiac axis and inferior phrenic artery. We report a case of the anomalous arterial supply arising from the right renal artery.