Mycotic pseudo-Aneurysm Occurring 22 Months after Popliteal Artery Stenting

Late onset infection of covered and bare metal arterial stents

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to present the case of a late covered iliac stent late infection and report a comprehensive literature review on diagnosis and outcomes in this setting.

METHODS

A comprehensive review of the literature was performed through MedLine by two independent reviewers from 1990 to 2020 on reported cases of arterial stent late onset infection over arterial stents. The data about on the risk factors, clinical presentation, treatment and outcomes were collected.

RESULTS

Twenty-two studies were selected as pertinent for the analysis, totalling 24 patients including the indexed case. Infection occurred at a median of 22 months postoperatively (range 2-120 months) over a bare metal stent in 66.7% (n 16) of cases versus 33.3% (n 8) over a covered stent. Clinical presentation included local symptoms (local pain, oedema, petechiae or skin rash) in 21 (87.5%) cases and non-specific systemic symptoms (fever, sepsis, chills and leucocytosis) in 8 cases (33.3%). In 4 cases (16.7%), patients presented with haemorrhagic shock upon arterial rupture. The bacteria most frequently encountered were S. aureus (54.2% of cases). Several factors were supposed to be responsible for the infection including among which procedure-related (non-aseptic technique, lack of prophylactic antibiotics and repetitive punctures at the access site) or related to pre-existing patient's clinical conditions (immunosuppression, diabetes and concurrent infection) have been considered responsible for the infection. Treatment consisted in antibiotics alone (2 patients, 8.3%) or in association with surgical explant, both with or and without revascularization (n 21, 87.5%). In one case, an endovascular coiling was performed. Complications occurred in 29.2% (n 7) of cases and included the need for amputation, bowel resection, endocarditis, pulmonary failure or pneumonia. Overall, three patients (12.5%) died from a septic shock or multi-organ failure.

CONCLUSIONS

Intravascular stent infection is a rare but fearsome condition associated with high morbidity and mortality.

Infections of intravascular bare metal stents: a case report and review of literature

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the paper is to present a case of an infected bare metal stent in the left common iliac artery that was removed by an urgent operation, and to review the literature on diagnosis and outcome of infected coronary and non-coronary metal stents.

METHODS

A systematic search of the Medline database was performed with the purpose of identifying risk factors, signs and symptoms, imaging strategies, and treatment modalities of bare metal stent infections, both coronary and peripheral.

RESULTS

In total, 76 additional studies/case reports (48 non-coronary; 29 coronary) were included and analyzed. Intravascular bare metal stent infections are a rare but serious complication, often leading to emergency surgery (overall: 75.3%; non-coronary cases: 83.3%; coronary cases: 62.1%). In 25.0% of the non-coronary cases, infection led to amputation of an extremity or removal of viscera. Reported mortality was up to 32.5% of the cases (non-coronary: 22.9%; coronary 48.3%). Physicians should always be suspicious of a stent infection when patients present with aspecific symptoms such as fever and chills after stent placement. Additional imaging can be used to detect the presence of a pseudoaneurysm. A PET-CT is an ideal medium for identification of a stent infection.

CONCLUSIONS

Intravascular stent infection is associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Surgery is the preferred treatment option, but not always possible, especially in patients with a coronary stent. In selected cases, bare metal stent infections may be prevented by the use of prophylactic antibiotics at stent placement.