Protective effect of antithrombin III against lung and myocardial injury in lower-limb ischemia-reperfusion syndrome.

Background: Restoration of blood flow to an acutely ischemic limb can trigger systemic inflammation. We investigated whether antithrombin III (AT-III) exerts a protective action against remote lung and myocardial injury in an experimental animal model of lower-limb ischemia-reperfusion.

Methods: Ischemia was induced by lower-limb arterial occlusion for 6 hours in 60 male Wistar rats.

An unusual complication of a "blind" femoral embolectomy.

Iatrogenic pseudoaneurysms after femoral embolectomy are unusual and have been described in the peroneal, posterior tibial, and popliteal arteries. We present an unusual case of such a pseudoaneurysm originating from a medial superior genicular collateral vessel that was coming off the proximal popliteal artery at an acute angle. It is likely that the embolectomy catheter had accidentally entered this branch, which ruptured when the balloon was inflated.

Axillary artery transection after recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation.

Axillary artery transection after recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation is extremely rare. We present 2 such patients. The first, a 62-year-old man, presented with acute ischemia and a large hematoma in the axilla and chest wall.

Thirty-day outcome following carotid artery stenting: a 10-year experience from a single center.

We aimed to present our experience with carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) and to document how the technique evolved over the last decade (1997-2007). A retrospective study of 333 patients (259 men; median age, 69 years) who underwent 336 CAS procedures. Of these, 118 (35%) patients were symptomatic and 164 (49%) lesions involved the left carotid bifurcation.

Mortality after endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To document mortality after endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAAs).

Data Sources: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases.

Study Selection: Articles that reported data on mortality after endovascular repair of RAAAs were identified.

Endovascular management of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms: an 8-year single-centre experience.

We aimed to review our experience with the endovascular treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA). During an 8-year period, 69 patients with a RAAA presented to our department; 67 underwent assessment by computed axial tomography, and 2 died on arrival before any evaluation was possible. A total of 42 patients (63%) were suitable for stent-grafting, and all but 1 (c-arm failure) proceeded to endovascular repair.

Cerebral hyperperfusion after carotid stenting: a transcranial doppler and SPECT study.

Aim: To document the incidence of symptomatic cerebral hyperperfusion after carotid stenting and to determine possible predisposing factors.

Methods: A prospective study of 29 consecutive patients undergoing carotid stenting. All patients underwent 1) brain computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging, 2) transcranial Doppler including assessment of cerebrovascular reactivity of the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery and 3) 99m hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime brain single photon emission computed tomography, before and after the procedure.

Usefulness of the Hardman index in predicting outcome after endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Objectives: The Hardman index, which has five variables, has been recommended as a predictor of outcome after open repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAAs). It has been reported that the presence of three or more variables is uniformly fatal. The aim of this study was to test the same model in an independent series of RAAA patients undergoing endovascular repair.

Interhemispheric asymmetry in brain perfusion before and after carotid stenting: a 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT study.

Purpose: To assess the effect of unilateral carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) on cerebral perfusion asymmetry in patients with severe extracranial carotid stenosis by means of technetium Tc 99m hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime brain single photon emission computed tomography ((99m)Tc-HMPAO SPECT).

Methods: Twenty-nine consecutive patients (22 men; median age 68 years, range 58-80; 13 symptomatic) undergoing unilateral CAS were included in the study. Brain perfusion was assessed by (99m)Tc-HMPAO brain SPECT prior to the procedure and postoperatively at 8 hours and at 2 to 4 months.

The impact of carotid stenting on the hemodynamic parameters and cerebrovascular reactivity of the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery.

Objective: The study was conducted to determine the effect of carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) on the hemodynamic parameters and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) of the ipsilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) and examine the relation between preprocedural exhausted CVR and perioperative neurologic events.

Methods: The study included 29 patients with severe extracranial carotid stenosis undergoing CAS. Transcranial Doppler imaging was performed before the procedure, 2 days, and 2 to 4 months postoperatively.

Endovascular management of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms: 6-year experience from a Greek center.

Objective: To report our early experience with endovascular treatment of patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAAs).

Methods: Between March 1998 and October 2004, 40 consecutive patients with an RAAA presented to our unit; 38 underwent assessment by computed tomography, whereas 2 died on arrival before any assessment and treatment was possible. Twenty-three patients (61%) were suitable for stent grafting, and all proceeded to endovascular repair.