Nationwide Analysis of Persistent Type II Endoleak and Late Outcomes of Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair in Japan: A Propensity-Matched Analysis.

Background: We reviewed the results of endovascular aneurysm repair in patients from the Japanese Committee for Stentgraft Management registry to determine the significance of persistent type II endoleak (p-T2EL) and the risk of late adverse events, including aneurysm sac enlargement.

Methods: The prospectively captured medical records of 17 099 patients <75 years of age who underwent endovascular aneurysm repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm from 2006 to 2015 were reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 groups (with or without p-T2EL) and compared to examine the correlation between p-T2EL and the occurrence of aneurysm sac enlargement after endovascular aneurysm repair.

Effect of the urgency and landing zone on rates of in-hospital death, stroke, and paraplegia after thoracic endovascular aortic repair in Japan.

Objective: The present study used data from the Japanese Committee for Stentgraft Management's national registry, which contains unique surgical data, including surgical timing, anatomic factors, and pathologic factors, to determine the generalized community experience with thoracic endovascular abdominal aortic repair (TEVAR).

Methods: The medical background and short-term outcomes were reviewed for patients who had undergone TEVAR for a thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA; 14,235 cases) or aortic dissection (AD; 990 type A and 4259 type B) from 2008 to 2015. TEVAR for AD was separated from that for TAAs; only the background and short-term outcomes were evaluated.

Outcomes of Endovascular Repair for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: A Nationwide Survey in Japan.

Objective: To analyze data on patients treated with a bifurcated stent graft for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Background: The Japan Committee for Stentgraft Management (JACSM) was established in 2007 to manage the safety of endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) in Japan. The JACSM registry includes detailed anatomical and clinical data of all patients who undergo stent graft insertion in Japan.

[Present status of stent-graft aortic aneurysm repair in Japan].

An industrially produced stent graft for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair was first approved in Japan in July 2006, followed by a device for thoracic aortic aneurysm repair the next year. After seven years, most descending thoracic aortic aneurysms and about half of abdominal aortic aneurysms are treated with four types of device each. In 2012, the number of patients who underwent endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), of facilities performing those procedures per 1 million population, and of EVAR and TEVAR patients per facility was 7,600 and 3,700, 3.

Endovascular stent graft repair for thoracic aortic aneurysms: the history and the present in Japan.

Stent-grafts for endovascular repair of thoracic aortic aneurysms have been commercially available for more than ten years in the West, whereas, in Japan, a manufactured stent-graft was not approved for the use until March 2008. Nevertheless, endovascular thoracic intervention began to be performed in Japan in the early 1990s, with homemade devices used in most cases. Many researchers have continued to develop their homemade devices.

Evaluation of thrombogenicity by indium-111 platelet scintigraphy in endografting for abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Obstruction of the endograft limb by thrombosis has often been reported and may cause fatal complications such as leg necrosis or myonephropathic metabolic syndrome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate endograft antithrombogenicity by indium-111 platelet scintigraphy. Seventeen patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms were treated by endografting.

[Endovascular stent-graft repair for thoracic aortic aneurysm].

Endovascular stent-grafting holds great potential as a minimally invasive alternative to open surgery for thoracic aortic aneurysm. Although there have been several commercially available stent graft systems applied to abdominal aortic aneurysm in the United States, Gore TAG is the only device that is approved by Food and Drug Association (FDA) for thoracic aortic aneurysm repair. Experience of endovascular aneurysm repair by our homemade system and TAG device which is crafted particularly for the thoracic aorta is reported.

Flow capacity of gastroepiploic artery versus vein grafts for intermediate coronary artery stenosis.

Background: Native flow competition is a significant factor affecting bypass graft patency. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of competitive flow on conduit flow dynamics in the gastroepiploic artery (GEA) and the saphenous vein graft (SVG).

Methods: In 51 patents, 23 GEAs (in-situ grafts) and 28 SVGs (aortocoronary grafts) were examined using a Doppler-tipped guidewire during coronary angiography after coronary artery bypass.

Value of pharmacologic stress myocardial perfusion imaging for preoperative risk stratification for aortic surgery.

Background: Aortic surgery is an invasive, high-risk noncardiac procedure and the patients who require it have a high prevalence of coronary artery disease. Therefore, preoperative risk stratification for this subset is essential.

Methods And Results: To assess the perioperative risk for aortic surgery, pharmacologic stress single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed in 302 patients: aortic dissection in 56, thoracic aortic aneurysm in 124, and abdominal aortic aneurysm in 122.

Endografting of the aortic arch.

In recent years, endovascular repair with stent-grafts has made great advances as a minimally invasive alternative to conventional open surgery in the treatment of aortic aneurysm and dissection. Although many commercial endograft systems are now used worldwide for the treatment of these pathologies in the abdominal aorta, only a few dedicated stent-grafts have been developed for use in the thoracic aorta. However, these second-generation commercial endografts have almost identical specifications and performance profiles in terms of structure, function, and delivery mechanism as stent-graft systems employed in the abdominal aorta.

Implications of carotid arteriomegaly in patients with aortic aneurysm.

The pathophysiology of aortic aneurysm is complex and it has remained unclear how frequently arteriomegaly, a diffuse dilatation of the artery, is associated with aneurysm. Therefore, ultrasonic study of the carotid artery was conducted to clarify this issue in a large number of subjects. Carotid ultrasonography was performed in 1,108 Japanese men aged 50 or older, and the results of 379 patients with arteriosclerotic aortic aneurysm (AA) were compared with those of 211 patients with peripheral arterial disease, 65 patients with aortic dissection, 232 hypertensive subjects, and 221 normotensive subjects.

Cut-off value of the ankle-brachial pressure index at which the accuracy of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity measurement is diminished.

Background: The present study was conducted to establish the cutoff value of the ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) at which the accuracy of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) measurement is diminished.

Methods And Results: The baPWV and ABI were measured in 1,361 patients with an atherosclerosis-related disease and 7,889 subjects without any atherosclerotic risk factors, in order to determine the percent difference of the brachial-ankle PWV (%baPWV), the angle of the rise of the anacrotic limb (%angle) and of the amplitude of the entire waveform (%amplitude) in both sides. The %angle and %amplitude were significantly higher in subjects whose %baPWV was >or=19% than in those subjects whose %baPWV was <19% (19% was the mean value+3SD of 7,889 healthy subjects).

Preoperative risk stratification for endovascular surgery using pharmacologic stress myocardial imaging.

To stratify perioperative cardiac risk for endovascular surgery, pharmacologic stress single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed in 206 patients. Of 8 patients who had cardiac events, 7 occurred in 67 patients with positive SPECT results, whereas only 1 occurred in 139 patients with negative SPECT results (7 of 67 vs 1 of 139, p <0.002).

Comparison of ankle-brachial pressure index and pulse wave velocity as markers of the presence of coronary artery disease in subjects with a high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Recently, a measurement device that can simultaneously measure the ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV) has become available. The present study compares the applicability of ABI and PWV as markers for predicting the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in subjects with a high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The ABI and brachial-ankle PWV were measured in 472 consecutive subjects who subsequently underwent coronary angiography for diagnosis or exclusion of CAD.

Dose-dependent inhibition of myointimal hyperplasia by orally administered rapamycin.

Myointimal hyperplasia (MIH) after vascular intervention is a major problem. Recent reports describing elimination of within-stent restenosis by means of rapamycin-eluting stents prompted us to examine the effect of systemic oral rapamycin on MIH induced by arterial trauma. We studied the effect of oral rapamycin on MIH after rabbit aorta balloon injury.

Arterial conduit shear stress following bypass grafting for intermediate coronary artery stenosis: a comparative study with saphenous vein grafts.

Objectives: Graft failure has been reported when the arterial conduit, such as the internal thoracic artery (ITA) or the right gastroepiploic artery (GEA), is grafted to a lower grade coronary artery stenosis. The shear stress as a significant factor affecting graft patency was compared between the arterial conduit and the saphenous vein graft (SVG) after surgery.

Methods: In 101 patients, 40 ITAs, 27 GEAs and 34 SVGs were examined using a Doppler-tipped guide wire during postoperative angiography.

[Stent grafting for aortic aneurysms].

Endovascular stent grafting for aortic aneurysms/dissections using metallic stents covered with conventional vascular grafts has attracted attention as a minimally invasive alternative to open surgery. Since the first clinical experience of endovascular stent grafting for abdominal aortic aneurysm was reported in 1991, numerous clinical applications have been undertaken worldwide. Although several commercial bifurcated stent grafts for abdominal aortic aneurysm are available in various countries, including Europe, the USA, and Australia at present, none of the devices are approved for clinical use in Japan.

Beneficial effect of coronary artery bypass grafting as assessed by quantitative gated single-photon emission computed tomography.

The development of quantitative gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has enabled the assessment of left ventricular perfusion, function and wall thickness in a single examination. Accordingly, the present study used gated SPECT to assess the benefit of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with coronary artery disease; 47 of those patients were evaluated before and 5 months after CABG. As a result of coronary revascularization, a significant improvement was observed in global ejection fraction (50+/-12 --> 53+/-11%; p<0.

Blood coagulation and fibrinolytic response after endovascular stent grafting of thoracic aorta.

Objective: Thrombosis is common in aneurysms immediately after stent-grafting, because of exclusion from systemic blood flow. We studied changes in blood coagulation and the fibrinolytic system in patients with thoracic aortic aneurysm or dissection after stent-grafting to examine risk for consumption coagulopathy.

Methods: Thirty-one thoracic aortic aneurysms were treated with stent-grafting (aneurysm group), and 29 aortic dissections were treated with entry closure with stent-grafting (dissection group).

Abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with crossed renal ectopia without fusion: case report and literature review.

Genitourinary anomalies can present a formidable challenge to the vascular surgeon at abdominal aortic reconstruction. We saw a case of crossed renal ectopia without fusion, a rare anomaly, associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm. Because of risk for injury to the kidney during surgery, preoperative evaluation of this anomaly must include computed tomography, angiography, and intravenous pyelography.