Temporary axillobifemoral bypass during fenestrated aortic aneurysm repair

The Efficacy of Salvage Intervention with Emergency Transient External Arterial Bypass for Traumatic Artery Occlusion of Main Extremities

Even if the vascular repair is successful, the frequency of limb loss is still high when popliteal artery injury is associated with postischemic syndrome due to blunt trauma or a prolonged ischemic time. Because prolonged ischemia interferes with an injured foot rescue, shortening of the ischemic time is a major aim of surgeons. We present two types of transient external arterial bypass and two cases of ischemic extremities due to main arterial injury. Even though the injured extremities had no circulation for more than 6 h, a transient external arterial bypass supplied circulation immediately, and they were reconstructed successfully. Although transient external arterial bypass is a dated technique, it is a recommended option, especially in the management of acute traumatic ischemia of the extremities to shorten the ischemic time and provide immediate reperfusion, which will bring the opportunity to save the ischemic limbs.

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.

Ischemia-induced lower extremity neurologic impairment after fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair

OBJECTIVE

Placement of large sheaths in the iliac system during fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair (FEVAR) leads to lower extremity (LE) ischemia that can be associated with serious neurologic complications. We sought to determine the effect of LE ischemic time on neurologic impairment after FEVAR.

METHODS

Consecutive patients who underwent FEVAR at a single institution were analyzed. LE ischemic time was calculated from the time of large sheath (≥18F) insertion to the time of sheath removal from the iliac arteries that led to continuous LE ischemia. The primary outcome was neurologic impairment defined as any new sensory or motor deficit in either LE. Outcomes were analyzed using descriptive statistics and modeled with logistic regression with interaction terms. Each individual LE was used as a unit of analysis.

RESULTS

We examined 101 patients (202 lower extremities) who underwent FEVAR over a 5-year period. The median LE ischemic time was 2.75 hours (range, 0.8-5.2 hours). Neurologic impairment developed in 18 extremities (9%). Of those, 12 (67%) developed mild sensory loss, 6 (33%) complete sensory loss, 4 (22%) loss of proprioception, and 2 (11%) motor dysfunction. Sensory deficit was permanent in four limbs (2%) and motor dysfunction in one limb (0.5%). In all other cases, the neurologic examination returned to baseline by postoperative day 15. Duration of LE ischemic time (odds ratio, 6.3; 95% confidence interval, 3.1-12.4; P < .001) and common iliac artery (CIA) stenosis to a lumen of 8 mm or less (odds ratio, 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-7.3; P = .002) were independent predictors for the development of neurologic impairment. An interaction term between LE ischemic time and CIA stenosis was statistically significant (P = .042), indicating that the presence of CIA stenosis modifies the effect of LE ischemic time. In those with CIA stenosis to a lumen of 8 mm or less, the risk of neurologic impairment increased rapidly after 2.5 hours of LE ischemia, and became nearly certain after 4 hours of ischemic time. By contrast, patients without CIA stenosis tolerated longer ischemic times and demonstrated a less steep increase in the risk for LE neurologic impairment.

CONCLUSIONS

LE neurologic impairment after FEVAR is strongly associated with LE ischemic time and CIA occlusive disease to a lumen of 8 mm or less. Our data indicate that, when the LE ischemic time is expected to exceed 2.5 hours (in patients with CIA stenosis) or 3 hours (in patients without CIA stenosis), measures to ensure LE perfusion should be given consideration.

Use of an extracorporeal bypass for renal preservation to treat a rare case of a true mycotic aneurysm in a renal transplant patient

True mycotic aneurysms of the abdominal aorta are extremely rare after organ transplantation. We report a renal transplant recipient who presented with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia and a new saccular infrarenal aortic aneurysm. A temporary extracorporeal axillofemoral bypass was placed to maintain perfusion to the transplant kidney. A contained rupture was found, and excision and in-line reconstruction were performed using a cryopreserved human aortic allograft. At 3 years, the patient remained well, with normal renal function while on oral antibiotic suppressive therapy. Use of an extracorporeal bypass was a viable technique with minimal morbidity for renal transplant preservation during open aortic replacement.