An unusual cause of peripheral artery embolism: Floating thrombus of the thoracic aorta surgically removed

Intraluminal mobile thrombus of the descending aorta are rare disorders. They are at high risk for peripheral embolism and therefore indication for treatment is mandatory. We report on a 54-year-old patient with peripheral arterial embolization who was treated by surgical thrombus removement by thoracotomy and staged peripheral bypass grafting. New diagnostic tools are presented, therapy and prognosis are discussed.

Pathology, natural history and treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms

With increasing age of the population and improvement of diagnostic tools, the incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) has been rising steadily. Despite an improvement in operative and interventional treatment options, AAA is the cause of death in 1-3% of men over 65 years of age in industrial countries, mostly due to rupture [1]. Therefore, routine screening for AAA by ultrasonography has been postulated in the past: a 60 year old man with an abdominal aortic diameter of less than 3 cm has a life-time risk of developing AAA close to zero. However, routine screening has not been found to be cost effective. Despite of the results of two well-designed studies, the limits of AAA qualifying the patient for surgery or intervention in contrast to conservative treatment is still a matter of debate. The present review article summarizes the current knowledge of the pathology, incidence, risks, natural course as well as symptoms and current treatment strategies of AAA on the basis of the recent literature.

Hybrid aortic procedures for endoluminal arch replacement in thoracic aneurysms and type B dissections

The aim of this study was to report our clinical experience with and review current literature on endoluminal aortic hybrid techniques and to evaluate outcome in high-risk patients treated for complex aortic arch lesions combining conventional supra-aortic debranching bypasses with subsequent or staged thoracic endovascular grafting. Of 172 patients treated with thoracic endografts for different thoracic aortic pathologies within the last 8 years, the mid-aortic arch was involved in 25, i.e. at least the left common carotid artery had to be overstented and revascularized to provide a proper proximal landing zone. These debranching bypasses were performed as a simultaneous or a staged procedure. All patients were at high-risk and were excluded by cardiac surgeons as ineligible for conventional arch repair. After partial (n=16) or complete (n=9) supra-aortic transposition, 4 different commercially available endografts (80% TAG, WL Gore) were implanted transfemorally or via iliac conduit. Deployment success was 100% in 25 patients after simultaneous or staged supra-aortic transposition; in 32% an emergency procedure was performed due to contained rupture; in 36% more than 1 endograft system was implanted (2 in 20%, 3 in 8% und 4 in 8%). The overall perioperative thirty-day mortality was 5 of 25 (20%) due to interoperative proximal bare stent perforation (n=1), transfusion related acute lung injury (TRALI n=1), cardiac failure (n=1), embolic stroke (n=1) and pneumonia (n=1). The mean follow-up was 21 months. All endoleaks type I (n=3) were corrected with another endograft; the 2 endoleaks type II sealed spontaneously. The major adverse events were: prolonged ventilation in 5 (20%), temporary renal insufficiency with hemodialysis (n=2), bypass infection (n=1), without any complications (n=9). No cases of paraplegia were recorded. Hybrid aortic arch repair is technically challenging but feasible. This novel approach may be an alternative to standard open procedures in high-risk patients and emergency cases. However, the promising early results need to be confirmed by longer follow-up and larger series.

Adenosine-induced cardiac arrest and EEG changes in patients with thoracic aorta endovascular repair

BACKGROUND

We studied haemodynamic and metabolic variables, and cerebral function after cardiac arrest induced by high dose of adenosine in patients undergoing thoracic aorta endovascular repair.

METHODS

Arterial blood pressure, blood gas values and EEG were recorded continuously in 15 patients undergoing anaesthesia (isoflurane) for endovascular thoracic aorta repair. Cardiac arrest was induced by different doses of adenosine (Adrekar, Sanofi-Synthelabo, Berlin, Germany; 0.4-1.8 mg kg(-1) body weight). Serum concentrations of neurone-specific enolase (NSE) were determined before and after stent graft implantation. Neurological function was assessed before and after surgery.

RESULTS

After adenosine, the heart beat stopped immediately for 18-58 s in close relation to the adenosine dose. EEG power was significantly reduced to -57%, but reached normal values within 5 min after cardiac arrest. In particular, the fast alpha- and beta-EEG-frequencies sensitively reflected patients' EEG activity during the procedure. No intraoperative increases in NSE concentrations, and no neurological dysfunctions after surgery, were observed.

CONCLUSION

After adenosine-induced cardiac arrest, changes in haemodynamic variables and EEG power spectra reversed completely within 1 and 5 min, respectively, without persistent brain dysfunction after stent graft implantation.

[Surgical management of isolated iliac aneurysms]

Isolated iliac aneurysms (IIA) are uncommon lesions that require surgical repair to prevent rupture. The aim of this article is to give an update on the current surgical management of IIA. This report also evaluates the application of endovascular repair in IIA, based on a recent Pubmed search and on our own experience in the interventional field: Open reconstruction achieves good longterm results and still represents the golden standard in surgical treatment of IIA. Transluminally placed endovascular stent grafts can be successfully used to exclude isolated iliac aneurysms in selected high risk patients with suitable anatomy. A classification based on aneurysm morphology is useful for patient selection. The value of endovascular therapy has yet to be determined.

Switch from phytotherapy to tamsulosin in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH)

The aim of this observational prospective study was to evaluate the switch from phytotherapy to tamsulosin 0.4 mg once daily (o.d.) on efficacy, sexual function and tolerability in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH) who have a poor response to at least 4 weeks of phytotherapy. The switch to tamsulosin 0.4 mg o.d. improves LUTS and related quality of life. Sexual function is also slightly improved. Tamsulosin is as well tolerated as phytotherapy and abnormal ejaculation appears to be no problem. Tamsulosin is perceived by both patients and urologists to be superior to preceding phytotherapy.

[Early transfer from intensive care does not influence clinical results of carotid endarterectomy]

The purpose of this prospective observational study was to examine the necessity of intensive care after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). In consideration of the neurological stage and comorbidities, morbidity and mortality after early transfer from the intensive care unit (ICU) were examined. The CEA patients were assigned preoperatively to short or long monitoring. Those with symptomatic stenosis ranking > or =2 (stroke within 6 weeks before surgery) and ischemic areas in cCT were observed overnight (long) in the ICU. Within 5.5 months, 100 consecutive patients had received 107 CEAs. Preoperatively, seven of these (6.54%) were assigned to ICU overnight monitoring. 14 patients (13%) needed postoperative over night ICU. We observed no perioperative stroke or mortality in the 107 consecutive CEAs. We could not detect any risk factor in preoperatively determining the length of postoperative ICU monitoring. This prospective, single center study showed that, after CEA, it is safe to monitor patients for only a short period (4-8 h) in the ICU. Morbidity and mortality after early transfer to the regular ward did not increase.

Gef��chirurgie im Alter

The prevalence of vascular disease among the elderly population is high (approximately 20%). The morbidity and mortality of many vascular operations show no differences between the fit elderly and younger patients. A major problem is that the elderly are often not diagnosed and treated early enough to prevent emergency operations, which carry a much higher mortality. Many new surgical techniques, especially endovascular interventions, have made vascular surgery less invasive. These advances have increased the potential of life saving and prolonging vascular surgery that can be offered to all patients regardless of age. Risk-benefit analysis, especially in elderly patients, is a cornerstone of proper patient selection. The main goal of vascular surgery in the elderly is preservation of quality of life and independence. Surgery of a ruptured aneurysm is a life saving exception. Indications for treatment in the elderly remains an individual decision making process. Advanced age should not be considered as a limitation or contraindication for carotid, aneurysm and bypass surgery. Age is not a disease, it is just a chapter of life.

[Surgical management of thoracic aortic lesions. Aneurysm, dissection and traumatic rupture]

Surgical management of distinct thoracic aneurysmal lesions stands at the crossroads. Until recently, the only treatment options for thoracic aortic lesions were surgical repair or medical management. There is increasing evidence that endovascular therapy will be useful in treating thoracic aortic disease, possibly becoming the preferred approach. Endovascular surgery will affect the incidence of open thoracic aortic surgery not only by producing a lower mortality risk but also a significantly lower incidence of paraplegia. In designing adequate treatment options of complex and difficult-to-treat thoracic aortic lesions, novel three-dimensional imaging reconstructions are mandatory.

Surgical Thrombectomy Followed by Intraoperative Endovascular Reconstruction for Symptomatic Ilio-femoral Venous Thrombosis

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the efficacy of surgical thrombectomy combined with endovascular reconstruction for acute ilio-femoral/caval venous thrombosis.

METHODS

Twenty consecutive patients with acute, symptomatic ilio-femoral/-caval thrombosis underwent valve-preserving thrombectomy with immediate endovascular repair between October 1996 and October 2003. Thrombectomy was classified by intraoperative venography as: TYPE I=complete, TYPE II=partial, TYPE III=complete with stenosis other than thrombus, TYPE IV=permanent occlusion. TYPEs I and IV were excluded from this analysis because endovascular repair was not performed.

RESULTS

Left-sided venous thrombosis predominated (90%). Lesions were located in the common iliac vein (85%), the external iliac vein (10%), and the inferior vena cava (5%). Three TYPE II lesions and 17 TYPE III lesions (11 spurs, one hypoplasia, one fibrosis, one haematoma, and three others) were diagnosed. Catheter-directed recanalisation (thrombectomy/thrombolysis) resolved TYPE II lesions in three patients. Balloon angioplasty (one patient), iliac stenting (15 patients [two with thrombolysis]), and caval stenting (one patient) were employed in TYPE III stenoses. No serious complication or death occurred. Mean follow-up was 21 months. Of 20 patients clinical results were excellent in 18 patients who maintained patency of their reconstructed iliac veins. Primary and secondary patency rates were 80 and 90%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Ilio-caval venous obstructions detected intraoperatively can be reconstructed in a one-stage combined procedure. The specific endovascular approach depends on the type of residual venous obstruction. Excellent mid-term results indicate that the proposed thrombectomy classification (TYPE I-IV) and treatment algorithm optimises the results in selected patients with symptomatic venous thrombosis.

Intravasale Raumforderungen der thorakalen Aorta

Aortic intraluminal mass lesions of the thoracic aorta are rare disorders with a wide range of differential diagnoses. Generalized hypercoagulation or vascular endothelial disorders have been proposed as the main etiological factor. The risk of catheter-related thrombus development or embolization after interventional procedures is as high as 17%. Malignancies of the aorta are somewhat rare. In some cases, the specific source of the thrombus could not be determined. Mainly, intraluminal tumors of the thoracic aorta become evident through peripheral embolization. Modern diagnostic tools are able to identify the structure and location of intravascular formations. Therapy options are influenced, due to the heterogenic entity, by the individual risk to the patient and the pathology of the thrombus.

A comparison of the efficacy and tolerability of tamsulosin and finasteride in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia

In this multicentre, double-blind study, patients with LUTS/BPH were randomised to 26 weeks with finasteride 5 mg once daily (n=204) or tamsulosin 0.4 mg once daily (n=199). Double-blind treatment was continued for another 26 weeks (total treatment duration: 1 y). The primary efficacy parameter was the difference in mean change in total Symptom Problem Index (SPI) from baseline to end point at week-26 in the intention-to-treat (ITT) and per protocol (PP) populations. Tamsulosin induced a greater improvement in total SPI (-5.2 points or -37%) compared to finasteride (-4.5 points or -31%) at week-26 (P=0.055 in ITT and P=0.032 in PP). Tamsulosin improved urinary symptoms (particularly the more bothersome storage symptoms) and flow more quickly than finasteride. The difference was statistically significant for the SPI from week-1 (reduction, respectively, -2.5 vs -1.8 points, P=0.043) to week-18 and for Qmax from week-1 (increase, respectively, 2.3 vs 0.7 ml/s, P=0.0007) to week-12. Both treatments were well tolerated with a comparable incidence of adverse events, including urinary retention.

[Interventional therapy in renal artery dissection due to renal artery PTA. Case report]

Percutaneous angioplasty of a renal artery stenosis may lead to dissection and acute thrombosis that may put the organ at risk. In this case, it should be discussed individually how to treat the patient and the decision on interventional therapy should be based on interdisciplinary consensus. Local fibrinolysis usually allows to recognize the cause of obstruction which then is the basis for further treatments. The case report presented in this article describes how a dissection involving two thirds of the renal artery and leading to significant obstruction may successfully be treated by means of interventional radiology.

Telmisartan vs losartan plus hydrochlorothiazide in the treatment of mild-to-moderate essential hypertension--a randomised ABPM study

The objective of this prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded-end point parallel-group, multicentre study was to show that telmisartan 80 mg is not inferior to a fixed-dose combination of losartan 50 mg/hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 12.5 mg in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. The criterion for noninferiority was a treatment difference of < or =3.0 mmHg in the reduction of 24-h mean ambulatory diastolic blood pressure (DBP) from the end of the 4-week placebo washout period to the end of the 6-week active treatment period. In the intent-to-treat analysis, the mean reduction in 24-h DBP was 8.3+/-6.7 mmHg among telmisartan-treated patients (n=332) and 10.3+/-6.3 mmHg among losartan/HCTZ-treated patients (n=350). The mean adjusted difference in 24-h DBP between the two treatment groups was 1.9 mmHg, allowing rejection of the a priori null hypothesis of a treatment difference of >3 mmHg. The reduction in mean 24-h systolic blood pressure was 13.2+/-10.2 mmHg with telmisartan and 17.1+/-10.3 mmHg with losartan/HCTZ. Both drugs provided effective control over the 24-h dosing interval. Analyses of morning (0600-1159) ambulatory blood pressure monitoring DBP means and trough cuff DBP confirmed the noninferiority hypothesis of the protocol for telmisartan 80 mg vs losartan 50 mg/HCTZ 12.5 mg. The reductions in office blood pressures measured at trough in patients treated with telmisartan were -16.3/-9.6 and -18.5/-11.1 mmHg in the patients treated with losartan/HCTZ (difference -2.4/-1.2 mmHg). There were no differences between the side-effect profiles of the two treatments.

[Prevalence of obstructive airway disease in middle-age adults. Cross sectional study in three different occupations]

Medical management of COPD begins with an awareness of risk factors and identification of risk patients. To identify this patients, 179 healthy volunteers with no known obstructive airway disease (81 women, 98 men, 40,5 +/- 11,2 years) and three different occupations (43 factory workers, 33 community workers, mainly working outside and 113 office employees) participated in the cross sectional spirometry study. Demographic data concerning age, height and body weight were comparable. In the first two groups were more men and more smokers. After adjustment to sex, age and height smokers revealed significant lower data for FEV 1 (3,16 l vs. 3,44 l) and FEV 1 /IVC (74,5 % vs. 77,6 %) in the factory workers. Comparable data exists for smokers in the community workers for FEV 1 (3,21 l vs. 3,59 l) and FEV 1 /IVC (74,8 % vs. 79,6 %), but not for office employees (FEV 1 3,51 l vs. 3,54 l; FEV 1 /IVC 76,1 % vs. 78,4 %). Airway obstruction, defined by FEV 1 /IVC below 70 % could be identified in thirteen of 57 smokers (22,8 %) and in twelve of 122 non-smokers (9,8 %) or in 25 of all 179 volunteers (14 %). The influence of smoking was significant (P = 0,0123). As a consequence, first there is a need for an increased awareness and routine spirometry in ad-risk patients; second, education and smoking cessation programs have to be initiated.

Dipyridamole may be used safely in patients with ischaemic heart disease

It is thought that up to 50% of patients with cerebrovascular disease will have concurrent ischaemic heart disease. Dipyridamole co-formulated with aspirin has been shown to increase the relative reduction in risk of second stroke in patients with prior stroke/transient ischaemic attack beyond that obtaining with aspirin alone. We have sought to resolve the question of whether dipyridamole treatment increases the risk of cardiac adverse events in patients with co-existing ischaemic heart disease. The published literature, periodic safety update reports, the randomised controlled trials of antiplatelet agents in stroke prevention and those including dipyridamole in cardiovascular indications, have been reviewed and analysed. The early reports of serious adverse cardiac effect attributable to dipyridamole occurred in patients with severe coronary artery disease using dipyridamole as a stress test adjunct to cardiac imaging. The randomised controlled trials databases show no evidence of mortality and only isolated cases of significant cardiac morbidity attributable to dipyridamole at recommended oral doses in patients with ischaemic heart disease. We conclude that patients with cerebrovascular and mild to moderate concomitant ischaemic heart disease may be treated safely with dipyridamole for the secondary prevention of stroke.

A procedure for evaluation and documentation of susceptibility test methods using the susceptibility of Klebsiella pneumoniae to ciprofloxacin as a model

A new procedure for the evaluation and documentation of susceptibility test methods is described. To illustrate the procedure, four basically different susceptibility test methods were examined in a routine laboratory. The test parameter detection of decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (breakpoint MIC 0.25 mg/L) among 94 selected isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae was used. In addition to comparison of frequency histograms and regression analysis, the accuracies of the susceptibility test methods were determined using the receiver operating characteristic procedure. For each of the methods, the sensitivity (SN), specificity (SP), positive predictive value (PV+) and negative predictive value (PV-) for detection of decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin were calculated and plotted against a range of ciprofloxacin inhibition zones determined by the various susceptibility test methods or MICs determined by the Etest (Etest MICs). The results illustrate the accuracy and the robustness of the methods, which can be used to expose the need for training and instruction of laboratory staff. It becomes possible to optimize and justify the choice of inhibition zone breakpoints or Etest MIC breakpoints according to the SN and SP of the method employed. Furthermore, the consequences of adjustments of these breakpoints on the PV+ and PV- can be analysed and related to different clinical and epidemiological situations. We believe that our approach can be used as a model for the evaluation and documentation of susceptibility test methods in general.