Status quo der Gefäßchirurgie in Deutschland

Incidence, Treatment and Mortality in Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

BACKGROUND

Aim of this study was to analyze hospital incidence, type of treatment, and hospital mortality rates of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in Germany from 2005 to 2014.

METHODS

Microdata of the diagnosis-related group (DRG) statistics compiled by the German Federal Statistical Office for the years 2005-2014 were analyzed. Patients who were hospitalized for a ruptured AAA (rAAA, ICD-10 code I71.3, treated either surgically or conservatively) or received surgical treatment for an unruptured AAA (nrAAA, ICD-10-Code I71.4, treated either with open surgery or an endovascular procedure) were included in the analysis. The "European Standard Population 2013" was used for direct standardization of the hospital incidences. In-hospital mortality was calculated with standardization for age and risk.

RESULTS

The standardized overall hospital incidence of AAA was 27.9 and 3.3 cases per 100 000 people for men and women, respectively; over the period of the study, the incidence of rAAA fell by 30% in both sexes and that of nrAAA rose by 16% in men and 42% in women. The percentage of patients receiving endovascular treatment rose from 29% to 75% in patients with nrAAA and from 8% to 36% in patients with rAAA. The age- and risk-standardized in-hospital mortality of nrAAA was 3.3% in men and 5.3% in women. The in-hospital mortality of surgically treated rAAA was 39% in men and 48% in women.

CONCLUSION

The hospital incidence of AAA rose from 2005 to 2014, while that of rAAA fell. Endovascular treatment became more common for nrAAA as well as rAAA, and in-hospital mortality fell for both.

[Indications and results of endovascular therapy of critical limb ischemia]

BACKGROUND

Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is the most severe form of peripheral artery occlusive disease and is characterized by high amputation, morbidity and mortality rates. Therefore, revascularization is the essential step in therapy for retention of the affected limb.

OBJECTIVES

Although for a long time bypass surgery represented the gold standard in the treatment of CLI, in recent years there has been a disproportionate increase of endovascular treatment despite the lack of level-data. In this review the indications and results of endovascular therapy of CLI are presented on the basis of published data.

METHODS

A literature search was carried out to identify publications that compared the results of endovascular and surgical therapy as well as observational studies about different endovascular techniques.

RESULTS

The BASIL study provided the highest quality data comparing endovascular and surgical treatment of CLI. The long-term data of the BASIL trial showed that apart from patients with a suitable vein and a life expectancy of more than 2 years, first line endovascular therapy is equivalent to surgical treatment. The equivalence could also be demonstrated in a meta-analysis comparing operative and endovascular treatment of CLI.

CONCLUSION

The CLI is a disease with high mortality and morbidity risks. Due to the comparable amputation-free survival times with lower complication rates in the published data, in most patients an endovascular first strategy in experienced centers can be justified.

Epidemiology and inpatient treatment of vascular diseases in Germany: English Version

Background

Non-cardiac vascular diseases account for approximately 10 % of the total burden of disease in the German population as measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALY). Thus, from the social perspective, much attention should be paid to optimization of the provision of vascular services especially in elderly people.

Objectives

This article describes the structure of inpatient care and the provision of vascular treatment as well as age- and gender-specific hospital incidence rates of vascular diseases in Germany between 2005 and 2013.

Materials and methods

Secondary data analysis is based on basic data from German hospitals as well as nationwide aggregated data from the diagnosis-related groupsʼ statistics from the Federal Statistical Office.

Results

Since 2005, the incidence of non-cardiac vascular diseases has increased and showed a significant dependency on sex and age. In general, men were affected consistently more frequently by vascular diseases. In contrast, hospital admission rates due to varicose veins or acute ischemia of the legs were higher in women. Treatment of arterial diseases was performed predominantly in general surgery units or departments for vascular surgery. From 1991 to 2013, the number of hospitals employing specialists for vascular surgery almost doubled, and the number of vascular surgeons working full-time in German hospitals was nearly tripled. Endovascular approaches were used particularly for revascularization of peripheral arteries as well as aortic aneurysm repair. In contrast, carotid surgery as well as peripheral embolectomy were predominately performed using open surgical techniques.

Conclusions

Since 1991, the increasing need for vascular services for patients has been met by continuously growing structures for the provision of vascular surgical treatment; however, the suitability and efficiency of provision of vascular services could only be assessed in an appropriate way by using more differentiated and disaggregated data.

Additional material available online

Additional information is available in the online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00772-015-0095-5).