Too friable to treat?

Fulminant myocardial bleeding: another clinical course of vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (vEDS) is a dominantly inherited connective tissue disorder characterised by colon rupture and arterial aneurysm, dissection and rupture. A patient was diagnosed with vEDS after a spontaneous colon rupture when he was brought to our institute because of sudden chest pain. An ECG revealed wide regional ST elevation, which was initially suggestive of acute myocarditis. On the second day, haemodynamics suddenly deteriorated because of a rapid accumulation of bloody pericardial effusion, and the patient died. Autopsy revealed an excessive spontaneous myocardial haemorrhage owing to fragility, which suggested an underlying disease—vEDS.

Pseudoaneurisma da artéria poplítea em um paciente com Síndrome de Ehlers-Danlos Tipo VI

Resumo A Síndrome de Ehlers-Danlos (EDS) é uma rara doença hereditária do tecido conjuntivo proveniente de uma alteração da síntese do colágeno. A principal característica da EDS é a extrema fragilidade do tecido conjuntivo, que pode resultar em rotura uterina, perfuração intestinal espontânea e várias doenças vasculares como aneurismas, pseudoaneurismas, dissecções arteriais e roturas espontâneas. Os autores relatam o caso de um paciente de 11 anos de idade que apresentava tumor pulsátil na fossa poplítea esquerda após trauma leve com bola de futebol. Diagnosticado pseudoaneurisma de artéria poplítea pelo doppler arterial, confirmado através da angiografia, optou-se pela exploração arterial e devido à fragilidade da parede não foi possível a sua reconstrução. Realizada a ligadura simples da artéria proximal. Evoluiu com isquemia grave do membro e após autorização da família foi realizada a sua amputação. No segundo dia do pós-operatório o paciente apresentou uma dissecção aguda da aorta torácica, evoluindo a óbito.

Presymptomatic genetic analysis during pregnancy for vascular type Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

The vascular type of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome (EDS), EDS type IV (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man [MIM] #130050) is characterized by thin, translucent skin, easy bruising, and arterial, intestinal, and/or uterine fragility during pregnancy, which may lead to sudden death. It is an autosomal dominant inherited disorder caused by type III procollagen gene (COL3A1: MIM #120180) mutations. Approximately 50% of the COL3A1 mutations are inherited from an affected parent, and 50% are de novo mutations. Each child of an affected individual has a 50% chance of inheriting the mutation and developing the disorder. Pregnant women with vascular EDS are at an increased risk of uterine and arterial rupture during the peripartum period, with high maternal morbidity and mortality rates. We report the first case of an asymptomatic 35-year-old woman at a risk of complications of vascular EDS who underwent presymptomatic evaluation during pregnancy. The sequencing results of both her brother and mother had a one-base-pair deletion, resulting in Glutamate at position 730 changing to Lysine and causing a frame shift and premature termination codon at 61 amino acids from the mutation position (p. Glu730Lysfs*61) on exon 32 of COL3A1. This deletion caused frameshift, leading to a premature termination codon (TAG) at 181 nucleotides downstream in exon 35, which could not be detected by previous total RNA (ribonucleic acid) method. Thus, she was at risk of complications of vascular EDS, and diagnostic testing was employed at 8 weeks of pregnancy to minimize the risk of developing vascular EDS-related complications. The negative presymptomatic diagnostic result allowed the patient to choose normal delivery at term. Vascular EDS is a serious disorder, with high mortality, especially in high-risk women with vascular EDS during pregnancy. The presymptomatic genetic testing of vascular EDS during pregnancy for a high-risk family can help with the early establishment of preventive measures.

Endovenous surgery for recurrent varicose veins with a one-year follow up in a patient with Ehlers Danlos syndrome type IV

We present a woman with severe symptomatic recurrent varicose veins who was treated with endovenous laser ablation and transluminal occlusion of perforator with attempted phlebectomies for extensive varices. The phlebectomies turned out to be near impossible due to friability of the veins. Her treatment was completed with post-operative ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy seven months later. She was subsequently diagnosed as Ehlers Danlos syndrome type IV. A duplex ultrasound scan 18 months post-endovenous laser ablation and transluminal occlusion of perforator and 11 months after ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy confirmed successful closure with virtual atrophy of all treated veins. She was found to be reflux free and only showed a few scattered cosmetic reticular veins. Open varicose vein surgery has been reported as being hazardous in the past in a patient with Ehlers Danlos syndrome type IV. Our experience has shown that endovenous laser ablation, transluminal occlusion of perforator and ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy appear to be effective in treating this patient with Ehlers Danlos syndrome type IV, although phlebectomies were technically impossible.

Friable but treatable: coronary artery dissections in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a rare connective tissue disorder associated with arterial dissection or rupture. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is often critical in patients with this syndrome because their coronary arteries are prone to dissection, enhancing the risk of stent borders dissection when conventional stent deployment pressures are used. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) treatment for these patients may also raise concerns because the left internal mammary artery is probably friable. Therefore, coronary artery revascularization in vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome either using PCI or CABG is challenging due to the arteries friability. A small number of cases have been published describing the friability of the vessels and associated complications; nevertheless, the optimum treatment remains unclear. We report the case of a 54-year-old woman treated successfully with PCI and CABG in two different acute coronary syndrome episodes, in which specific technical issues related to both procedures were decisive.