Vascular Tumors of the Neck in Adults: 10-Year Experience in a Tertiary Center.

Introduction: The diagnosis and management of vascular lesions of the neck is a challenging task that requires a multidisciplinary approach. This retrospective study assesses the single center experience of vascular tumors of the neck.

Materials And Methods: Patients diagnosed with a vascular tumor and/or a mass in close proximity to the carotid artery were identified from our records over a 10-year period.

Endovascular Repair of Iliac Artery Aneurysms: A Single Center Experience in 10-Years.

Objectives: Isolated iliac artery aneurysms (IAAs) are rare, but nonetheless life-threatening when ruptured. The endovascular approach has taken over open repairs in time. The reported data is constituted of a retrospective series.

Midterm results with drug-coated balloons for SFA lesions in patients with CLI: comparison with conventional bypass surgery.

Background: Endovascular treatment of symptomatic peripheral artery disease has gained widespread acceptance. The efficacy and safety of drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty in the setting of critical limb ischemia in comparison to conventional surgery has not been demonstrated. We have compared our results with DCB angioplasty to conventional bypass surgery in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI).

Staged or Combined Approach for Carotid Endarterectomy in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A 5-Year-Long Experience.

Background: Optimal surgical approach for patients with hemodynamically significant carotid and coronary disease remains controversial. We analyzed our 5-year experience and compared early and long-term outcome following staged and combined carotid and coronary artery bypass.

Methods: 312 consecutive patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy and coronary artery bypass between 2008 and 2013 were prospectively enrolled in the study.

Midterm Results Following Percutaneous Rotational Thrombectomy for Acute Thrombotic Occlusions of Prosthetic Arteriovenous Access Grafts.

Patent vascular access is critical for patients on regular hemodialysis. Prosthetic grafts are good alternatives when the superficial venous system is of poor quality. However, thrombosis is one of the main drawbacks of synthetic grafts, with reports of 59% to 90% patency rates for 1 year.

Debranching solutions in endografting for complex thoracic aortic dissections.

Background: Conventional surgical repair of thoracic aortic dissections is a challenge due to mortality and morbidity risks.

Objectives: We analyzed our experience in hybrid aortic arch repair for complex dissections of the aortic arch.

Methods: Between 2009 and 2013, 18 patients (the mean age of 67 ± 8 years-old) underwent hybrid aortic arch repair.

Extracardiac off-pump fontan completion for single ventricle with dextrocardia.

Extracardiac off-pump is reported to result in better early hemodynamics and shorter mechanical ventilation periods. We present a case report of extracardiac off-pump Fontan in a 5-year-old girl with single ventricle and dextrocardia.

Midterm results with endovascular approach to abdominal aortic pathologies in Behçet's disease.

Background: Vascular involvement in Behcet's disease is rare, but may be at the forefront of the clinical picture with possible life-threatening scenarios. We reviewed our preliminary results with endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic pathologies in Behçet's disease.

Methods: Data regarding seven patients with abdominal aortic pathologies (aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm, and aortoenteric fistula) and Behçet's disease were treated with endovascular stent-grafting between 2002 and 2006.

Single-stage correction, with extensive pulmonary arterial reconstruction, of a pulmonary arterial sling associated with tetralogy of Fallot.

Pulmonary arterial sling, rare in itself, is even rarer when associated with tetralogy of Fallot. Successful single-stage correction of this combination, with extensive pulmonary arterial reconstruction, has been reported only occasionally. We describe our experience with an 18 month-old girl, showing that extensive reconstruction of both the pulmonary arteries and the right ventricular outflow tract can permit single-stage correction in selected patients, resulting in favourable physiology and anatomy.

Isolated partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection of the left lung.

Isolated partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection (PAPVC) of the entire left lung is a rare congenital anomaly with incidental diagnosis and vague symptoms, if any, until late adulthood. If left untreated, PAPVC may result in severe right ventricular failure and pulmonary vascular disease. We present the case of a 34-year-old woman with isolated PAPVC of the entire left lung.

Combined aortic and mitral valve replacement in a child with mucopolysaccharidosis type I: a case report.

Mucopolysaccaridosis syndromes are metabolic disorders that are inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, and demonstrate cardiovascular involvement that, on rare occasions, results in surgery. The case is presented of a 12-year-old boy with symptoms and signs of congestive heart failure who was referred to the authors' department for severe mitral and aortic valvular stenosis. The patient was shown to have the somatic characteristics of mucopolysaccharidosis, while urinalysis indicated the presence of chondroitin sulfate B.

Stenting for stenosing Takayasu aortitis following carotid artery stenosis in a 32-year-old patient.

Takayasu arteritis is a chronic granulomatous vasculitis with multivessel involvement, causing significant mortality and morbidity in affected individuals. A 32-year-old patient with severe right common carotid stenosis underwent expanded polytetrafluoroethylene graft interposition to the carotid artery. A bare Wallstent endoprosthesis (Boston Scientific Medi-Tech, Natick, MA) was implanted for the abdominal aortic stenosis incidentally diagnosed during follow-up 1 year after the carotid operation while the disease was inactive.

Posterior pericardial ascending-to-descending aortic bypass through median sternotomy.

Background And Aim: Adult patients with complex forms of descending aortic disease remain a surgical challenge and have a high risk of postoperative mortality and morbidity. Surgical management may be complicated when there is an associated cardiac defect, necessitating repair, or a hostile anatomy exists. We present our experience with extra-anatomic bypass through posterior pericardial route at the same stage with intracardiac/ascending aortic aneurysm repair.

Concomitant coronary and peripheral arterial disease: single-stage revascularization.

Acute presentation of critical peripheral arterial ischemia in an unstable cardiac patient is a challenge to the surgeon. Coexistence of two entities is usually managed with a staged approach; however, decision to treat which entity first may be difficult clinically. We present a 49-year-old man with acute infrarenal aortic occlusion and cardiac ischemia who was treated with single-stage ascending aorta-bifemoral bypass following saphenous vein grafting to left anterior descending artery.

A case of abdominal aortic pseudoaneurysm associated with right heart mass.

We present a patient with right-sided endocarditis associated with abdominal aortic pseudo-aneurysm presenting only with high fever and pulsating abdominal mass. A higher clinical awareness of aortic pseudoaneurysms associated with intracardiac lesions disease, leading to early computed tomography evaluation and prompt surgical intervention appears to offer the best chance of survival. In this aspect, single-stage surgical treatment of both endocarditis and the aortic pathology is necessary.

An alternative patch repair technique during valve replacement for native valve endocarditis.

A patient with native valve endocarditis and vegetation on anterior mitral leaflet underwent aortic valve replacement with preservation of aortic noncoronary leaflet as a patch over the inflamed intervalvular fibrous body. This technique may minimize prosthetic material use, which is the most important risk factor for reinfection.

Mid-term outcome with surgery for type B aortic dissections: a single center experience.

Background: The approach to acute and chronic type B aortic dissection has changed significantly over the past years. In this aspect, we have reviewed our single-center experience in surgery for type B dissections and compared the current data presented by other centers.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients operated at our center for type B aortic dissection (14 acute, 15 chronic) were reviewed over the years between 1996 and 2004.

Mitral valve replacement with bileaflet preservation for complex annular calcification.

Extensive calcification of mitral apparatus may preclude optimal valve repair, thus requiring debridement. We performed mitral valve replacement in a 55-year-old woman with a modified bileaflet preservation technique to avoid complications related to extensive debridement. Posterior transposition of the anterior leaflet as a buttress over the posterior ventricular wall provided extra support for the weakened tissues and covered the decalcified areas, which protected against debris embolism.