Publications by authors named "Panagitsa Christoforou"

Lemierre syndrome is a rare complication of oropharyngeal infection that causes septic thrombophlebitis in the internal jugular vein. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this condition has been dangerously overlooked and poses an even greater threat when complicated by vascular pathologies. A case is presented where the patient required emergency endovascular exclusion of a right internal carotid artery pseudoaneurysm due to Lemierre syndrome.

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Coral reef aorta is a rare type of atherosclerotic disease that causes severe calcification in the abdominal aorta. We present a case of coral reef aorta with hemodynamically significant symptomatic aortic stenosis causing intermittent claudication and bilateral cyanosis of the toes. Despite the challenging anatomy for endovascular treatment, the patient underwent successful transfemoral endovascular stent-graft placement.

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The AFX2 endovascular repair system is a unibody, bifurcated stent graft that can be used in an abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with anatomical challenges, especially if it is combined with different aortic cuffs. The use of an AFX2 main body combined with a thoracic stent graft as a proximal aortic cuff was selected to treat a 77-year-old male patient with abdominal aortic aneurysm. The AFX2 endograft combined with a proximal thoracic aortic cuff plays a safe and effective role in treating complex infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm that may otherwise be technically more challenging with the open technique and inaccessible with the traditional endovascular technique.

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Ectopic major renal arteries are rare but anatomically important because they can complicate aortic surgery and make the operation challenging for vascular surgeons. A 68-year-old male was presented with a 5.5-cm aneurysm of the infrarenal abdominal aorta combined with an ectopic main right renal artery arising from the middle of the aneurysm sac, perfusing a normotopic right kidney.

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Femoral artery aneurysms are rare, and aneurysms of the superficial femoral artery (SFA) are even rarer, with ruptured true aneurysms of the SFA the rarest. In the present report, we have described the case of a young patient whose SFA had clinical findings suggestive of an aneurysm rupture, which resulted in the diagnosis of Behçet disease, in accordance with the clinical features of the disease. The patient underwent standard treatment, with aneurysmectomy and interposition of a synthetic graft.

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We report the case of a single 46-year-old woman presenting with huge uterine fibroids growing for the last 12 years, resulting in a recent common iliac vein thrombosis. Due to the high risk for pulmonary embolism, an occluding balloon was inserted through the right jugular vein before the abdominal incision and occluded the vena cava just inferior to the renal veins. The tumor was easily mobilized, and the vena cava bifurcation was exposed and controlled until the uterus with the masses was resected.

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Introduction And Importance: The horseshoe kidney (HK) is the most common fusion defect of the kidneys. Τhe simultaneous presence of HK and abdominal aortic aneurysm (ΑΑΑ) is rare and comprises a technical challenge for the vascular surgeon due to variation of renal arteries and the renal isthmus overlying the AAA sac.

Case Presentation: We present the first case in Nicosia General Hospital of Cyprus of an infrarenal AAA with a HK (Crawford Type I), which was successfully treated using an open surgical approach.

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Myocardial infarction (MI) is an eversion carotid endarterectomy (eCEA) complication, but most events are unknown, and true incidence and correlation remain controversial. Routine cardiac troponin measurement is a commonly used method for assessing early identification and treatment of MI and stratifying high-risk patients. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of troponin elevation levels following eCEA and to investigate a possible correlation between adverse cardiovascular events and the incidence of postoperative myocardial infarction following emergent vascular surgery.

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Surgical resection remains the cornerstone for the treatment of oncological disease. When a critical arterial or venous structure is involved in a tumor mass, successful relief of symptoms and long-term oncological control are achieved through careful preoperative planning by an interdisciplinary team that necessarily includes a vascular surgeon. We describe the involvement of a vascular surgeon in the oncology of a 22-year-old woman, who is diagnosed with idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis.

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There is a lack of guidelines concerning common carotid artery (CCA) occlusive disease in the presence of a patent internal carotid artery (ICA). A novel surgical technique that disobliterates an occluded CCA was successfully performed in three cases. The detailed surgical steps are presented herein.

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The technique of the eversion carotid endarterectomy (ECEA), as an alternative to the conventional endarterectomy with primary or patch angioplasty, is an established technique for managing internal carotid artery stenoses and recently its application has been upgraded through the European Society for Vascular Surgery guidelines (Recommendation 55: Class 1, Level A). However, the typical eversion method has been associated with postoperative hypertension due to loss of the baroreceptor reflex; the standard oblique transection at the bulb performed in the eversion endarterectomy interrupts either the baroreceptor sensoring tissue, which is mostly located in the adventitia at the medial portion of the proximal internal carotid artery, or even the proper Hering nerve, a branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve. These actions deregulate the natural negative feedback of the carotid baroreceptor.

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Penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers (PAUs) of the aorta are defined as atherosclerotic lesions with aortic intima and media ulceration, which may lead to a complete rupture of the adventitial wall. The present article aimed to report an unusual case of a surgically treated patient with abdominal aorta PAU with an illustration of the key features and to review and analyze the existing literature data. PAUs typically develop in elderly and hypertensive patients and in patients with advanced atherosclerosis.

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Vagal paragangliomas (VPGLs) represent <5% of all head and neck paragangliomas (PGLs) and show a 17% to 20% risk of malignancy. We present a rare case of a 50-year-old gender with a left VPGL in her neck. To date, approximately 200 cases have been reported.

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Paraganglia are clusters of cells originating from the neural crest with histological and cytochemical characteristics of neuroendocrine cells. Paragangliomas of the head and neck represent less than 0.5% of all head and neck tumors and they usually occur between the ages of 40 and 50.

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Background: Phleboliths are a common finding, especially in the pelvic veins. There are generally multiple thrombi associated with vascular malformations, trauma, or iatrogenic or noniatrogenic intravenous foreign bodies.

Methods: Herein, we report a unique case of a single moving phlebolith in the cephalic vein of a 65-year-old man, not associated with any vascular lesion, trauma, or foreign body.

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Although the aneurysm of the splenic artery represents the third most common abdominal arterial aneurysm next to the aortic and iliac aneurysms, the aneurysm of the gastroepiploic artery is extremely rare occurring at a frequency of 3-4% of all visceral arteries' aneurysms; only 17 cases have been reported in the English literature. We present the case of a 65-year-old woman with an asymptomatic visceral artery aneurysm, which was an incidental ultrasonography finding. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an arterial aneurysm close to the peripheral splenic artery with intense tortuosity of the celiac and splenic artery.

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Introduction: Superficial temporal artery aneurysms (STAAs) occur in 1% of arterial aneurysms; mostly (95%) are pseudoaneurysms following trauma; true aneurysms are rare (5%); forty-five cases are reported.

Aim: To report a rare case of a congenital STAAA.

Case Report: A67-year-old patient recalled the existence of a true-histologically evidenced- aneurysm of the right superficial temporal artery since his childhood denying any head injury; it was resected through a horizontal skin incisure.

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The third-generation thienopyridine prasugrel has much stronger antiplatelet effect compared to other current antiplatelet inhibitors and exhibits practically zero resistance in healthy people. Prasugrel is used as a pre- and post-treatment in percutaneous coronary or neurovascular interventions with parallel aspirin regime. However, as there is a higher reported bleeding with intraluminal interventions and meticulous technique is recommended, there is nearly non-existent international experience of open surgery under full prasugrel treatment.

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The presence of the meandering mesenteric artery, which is a nonconstant tortuous arterial component unifying the peripheral intestinal circulation, is evidence of chronic occlusive disease of the main intestinal arteries. This collateral intestinal arterial pathway, when present, must be preserved in any abdominal intervention, as it is often the only remaining arterial supply of the intestine; its ligation can be accompanied by intestinal ischemia. We present herein, the case of a 42-year-old man, heavy smoker, who had chronic mesenteric ischemia without particular clinical manifestations till the hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction for which he underwent balloon angioplasty and stenting of the left circumflex coronary artery.

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Colon ischemia following aortic reconstruction is a severe complication with an incidence of 1% to 2% of the operated patients; this infrequent complication will be lethal for nearly half of these patients. Commonly, colon ischemia may be an intraoperative observation or an early postoperative finding. However, in the case presented here, sigmoid rupture and small and large intestine communication was revealed 3 months following repair of the abdominal aorta.

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Aneurysms of the foot arteries are rare. A case of a true dorsalis pedis artery aneurysm in a 69-year-old man, with no history of local trauma or injury on his foot, is presented. Clinical examination and ultrasonic imaging confirmed the aneurysm.

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