A laparoscopic access technique for endovascular procedures: surgeon training in an animal model.

Purpose: To present a laparoscopic technique for placing a transperitoneal conduit in the common iliac artery (CIA) or distal aorta to circumvent stenosed or occluded iliac systems and to assess the success of this laparoscopic access in a live animal model.

Technique: A porcine model was used owing to similarities in anatomy and size of the pig aorta to the human common iliac artery (CIA). Ethical approval was obtained, and the technique was developed in 8 animals under general anesthesia.

Minilaparotomy for aortoiliac aneurysmal disease: experience and review of the literature.

Vascular surgery is evolving, as other specialities, toward minimally invasive techniques. Presently, 3 approaches to aortoiliac disease are suggested as minimally invasive. Besides the endovascular procedures, laparoscopic techniques and minilaparotomy are being advocated.

Follow-up after endovascular aortic aneurysm repair: the plain radiograph has an essential role in surveillance.

Periodic follow-up is mandatory for patients with aortic stent-grafts. Central to surveillance is the establishment of a baseline against which changes can be detected. Computed tomography (CT) has been the benchmark of follow-up imaging for endografts, but comparison of serial AP and lateral plain radiographs will detect structural alterations that can be missed on CT scans.

Retrograde fenestration of endoluminal grafts from target vessels: feasibility, technique, and potential usage.

Purpose: To report initial experiments involving a new method for percutaneous intraprocedural stent-graft fenestration from the target vessel.

Technique: In bench and canine models, the fabric of an implanted Zenith endograft was punctured easily using the stiff end of a coronary 0.014-inch guidewire delivered through the target vessel (e.

Current modifications to totally laparoscopic "apron technique".

Since our original description in 1997 of a totally laparoscopic technique for treatment of aortoiliac disease, this type of minimally invasive procedure has been used both in the United States and abroad. We describe improvements that should make this technique more easily reproducible. This modified procedure was offered to six patients, one of whom received a tube graft for treatment of aneurysm disease.