Long-term cardiovascular outcome after elective abdominal aortic aneurysm open repair

Editor's Choice -- European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) 2024 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Abdominal Aorto-Iliac Artery Aneurysms

OBJECTIVE

The European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) has developed clinical practice guidelines for the care of patients with aneurysms of the abdominal aorta and iliac arteries in succession to the 2011 and 2019 versions, with the aim of assisting physicians and patients in selecting the best management strategy.

METHODS

The guideline is based on scientific evidence completed with expert opinion on the matter. By summarising and evaluating the best available evidence, recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of patients have been formulated. The recommendations are graded according to a modified European Society of Cardiology grading system, where the strength (class) of each recommendation is graded from I to III and the letters A to C mark the level of evidence.

RESULTS

A total of 160 recommendations have been issued on the following topics: Service standards, including surgical volume and training; Epidemiology, diagnosis, and screening; Management of patients with small abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), including surveillance, cardiovascular risk reduction, and indication for repair; Elective AAA repair, including operative risk assessment, open and endovascular repair, and early complications; Ruptured and symptomatic AAA, including peri-operative management, such as permissive hypotension and use of aortic occlusion balloon, open and endovascular repair, and early complications, such as abdominal compartment syndrome and colonic ischaemia; Long term outcome and follow up after AAA repair, including graft infection, endoleaks and follow up routines; Management of complex AAA, including open and endovascular repair; Management of iliac artery aneurysm, including indication for repair and open and endovascular repair; and Miscellaneous aortic problems, including mycotic, inflammatory, and saccular aortic aneurysm. In addition, Shared decision making is being addressed, with supporting information for patients, and Unresolved issues are discussed.

CONCLUSION

The ESVS Clinical Practice Guidelines provide the most comprehensive, up to date, and unbiased advice to clinicians and patients on the management of abdominal aorto-iliac artery aneurysms.

Statin therapy after elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair improves long-term survival

BACKGROUND

Patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms are at high risk of cardiovascular events. Although statin therapy is indicated for most of these patients, no specific recommendation regarding the intensity of therapy exists. The aim of this study was to assess the possible effect of statin therapy on survival of patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and to investigate if high-intensity statin therapy was superior to low-moderate-intensity therapy.

METHODS

Data from nationwide Swedish registers on hospital admissions, operations, and medications for patients undergoing elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair from 2006 to 2018 were collected. The effect of statin use was evaluated in three separate propensity score matched cohorts: perioperative mortality was analysed according to whether patients were on statins before abdominal aortic aneurysm repair or not; long-term survival was assessed according to whether patients were on statins during follow-up or not; and, for those on statins after surgery, long-term survival was analysed according to whether patients were on high-intensity or low-moderate-intensity statin therapy.

RESULTS

Preoperative statin use did not reduce 90-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.99, 95% c.i. 0.77 to 1.28), whilst there was a marked benefit regarding long-term survival for postoperative statin users (HR 1.43, 95% c.i. 1.34 to 1.54). High-intensity statin therapy had no advantage over low-medium-intensity statin therapy with regards to long-term survival (HR 1.00, 95% c.i. 0.80 to 1.25).

CONCLUSION

In this nationwide propensity score matched cohort study, preoperative statin treatment had no benefit regarding 90-day perioperative survival, but postoperative statin treatment markedly improved long-term survival. No additional benefit regarding high-dose statin treatment could be confirmed in this analysis.

The role of fEVAR, chEVAR and open repair in treatment of juxtarenal aneurysms: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Open repair (OR), fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair (fEVAR) and endovascular exclusion using parallel graft (chEVAR) are complementary procedures used for treatment of juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (jrAAA). The aim of our study was to assess available literature and analyze dispersion of OR, fEVAR and chEVAR procedures among reported papers related to treatment of jrAAA.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

The PubMed database was systematically searched using predefined strategy and key words related to treatment of jrAAA on September 28th, 2019. Studies were assessed for eligibility using the inclusion and exclusion criteria with at least five patients treated with at least one of the procedures while systematic reviews, meta-analysis, reviews, comments, editorials and letters were excluded as well as studies without clear classification of the location of the aneurysm, studies not specifying the number of patients treated with each of the techniques or not discriminated between aortic pathologies (juxtarenal, paravisceral and thoracoabdominal), hybrid procedures, endoanchors or with branched stent-graft.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Overall, 1533 papers were identified while papers that met inclusion criteria were either representing experience of single institution (87 papers) or from multicenter studies (6 papers), national or international registries (18 papers). In the period between January 1977 and December 2017, treatment of 5664 patients with jrAAA was reported in 87 papers as a single institution report. Out of them 2531 (45%) were treated with OR, 2592 (46%) with fEVAR and 541 (9%) with chEVAR. Out of 29 institutions reporting OR, there were 11 (37.9%) with more than 100 treated patients while 21 (41.1%) out of 51 institutions that reported more than 50 jrAAA treated with fEVAR. Only four institutions reported results of all three treatment modalities.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results reported in the literature, regardless of its complexity and costs, fEVAR for jrAAA has been accepted in substantial number of hospitals worldwide, while number of reported procedures is reaching OR.

Effect of lipid-modifying therapy on long-term mortality after abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: a systemic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Several observational studies have demonstrated that lipid-modifying therapy may improve long-term survival in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients after repair. We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the effect of lipid-modifying therapy on long-term mortality.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We conducted a systematic search of multiple databases up to April 2014. Studies that evaluated exposure to lipid-modifying therapy, reported mortality data and hazard ratio (HR) or provided survival curve for their estimation were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled HR estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random-effects model.

RESULTS

Eight studies (seven cohorts, one post hoc study of a randomization controlled trial) reporting 2,605 patients on lipid-modifying therapy were included. Meta-analysis showed a significant 39% reduction in long-term mortality with lipid-modifying therapy (HR 0.61; 95% CI 0.51-0.73). After exclusion of one study which was contributing to considerable heterogeneity, a significant 33% reduction in mortality risk was a more conservative, consistent estimate (HR 0.67; 95% CI 0.59-0.77).

CONCLUSION

Meta-analysis of studies supports a protective role of lipid-modifying therapy on mortality risk after AAA repair. Aggressive lipid intervention should be recommended to those who receiving AAA repair.

Diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for small abdominal aortic aneurysms

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) affect 5% of the population in developed countries and are characterized by progressive aortic dilatation with an unpredictable time course. This condition is more common in men than in women, and in smokers than in nonsmokers. If left untreated, AAA can result in aortic rupture and death. Pathologically, aortic extracellular matrix degradation, inflammation, and neovascularization are hallmarks of AAA. Diagnosis of AAA and subsequent surveillance utilize established aortic imaging methods, such as ultrasound, CT, and MRI. More-speculative diagnostic approaches include molecular and cellular imaging methods that interrogate the underlying pathological processes at work within the aneurysm. In this Review, we explore the current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for the management of AAA. We also describe the diagnostic potential of new imaging techniques and therapeutic potential of new treatments for the management of small AAA.