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Background: In recent years, Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) has become a primary modality of therapy in moderate-high risk patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis. Although clinicians remain vigilant about screening for both aortic stenosis, many patients still, nevertheless, often present only when they are symptomatic. Unfortunately, when isolated TAVR is performed in the context of hostile aortic pathology, it has been reported that patients suffer from higher rates of complications such as rupture, dissection, or death post-operatively., Objectives: To explore the utility of a simultaneous TAVR and endovascular aortic repair in addressing symptomatic aortic stenosis in challenging patients with hostile aortic pathology., Methods: Retrospective case series within a tertiary care hospital between May 2017 and December 2023., Results: A total of 11 patients underwent simultaneous endovascular aortic repair and TAVR. TAVR was performed first in 9/11 (82%) of the procedures while endovascular aortic repair was performed first in 2/11 procedures (18%). The median age was 84 years old (IQR = 77-86 years old). The median LOS was 3 days (IQR = 2-10 days). The median procedure time was 155 minutes (IQR = 111-202 minutes) and the median contrast amount was 100 CC (IQR = 65-139 CC). 2 patients (18%) experienced post-operative complications. Both of these patients required re-intervention. This cohort of patients did not experience any mortality at 30 days related to pertinent complications or adverse MACE events. All patients were transferred to the PACU and ultimately discharged home., Conclusions: Extending TAVR eligibility to high-risk patients with hostile aortic pathology through the implementation of simultaneous endovascular aortic repair, performed via the same access site, is an effective strategy for management of symptomatic aortic stenosis in the context of extensive cardiovascular co-morbidities., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Surgical management of carotid stenosis has evolved from open carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to include multiple alternative procedures including transfemoral carotid artery stenting (tfCAS) and transcarotid artery stenting. In recent years, Transcarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) has emerged as a third option, combining open cut down to the common carotid artery (CCA) with endovascular stenting and neuroprotection via reversal of cerebral blood flow. In this case series, a modified TCAR procedure using a prosthetic conduit was successfully performed exclusively under local anesthesia in a total of 10 patients with carotid artery stenosis, high cardiac risk, and anatomical contraindications to a traditional TCAR., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Popliteal entrapment syndrome (PES) describes a cluster of symptoms related to the compression of the neurovascular bundle in the popliteal fossa, most commonly involving the popliteal artery. In approximately 10-15% of the cases of popliteal entrapment syndrome, the popliteal vein is compressed. Symptoms of popliteal vein entrapment can mimic venous insufficiency or deep venous thrombosis, causing the diagnosis to be missed or delayed. Diagnosis of popliteal vein entrapment can be done with duplex imaging with flexion and extension maneuvers; however, venography is the gold standard for diagnosis. While popliteal vein entrapment is commonly associated with younger individuals, it may also be an underdiagnosed condition in older patients. We describe two cases of successful diagnosis and treatment of late-onset presentation of popliteal vein entrapment., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Aortoiliac occlusive disease (AIOD) can occur from either chronic, progressive atherosclerotic disease, acute on chronic thrombosis or acute arterial embolism, and can all result in limb ischemia. Bypass surgery had long been the gold standard for treatment for AIOD, however, with advances in endovascular techniques, minimally invasive treatment of aortoiliac lesions has become the first line choice of management in many cases. Herein, we describe a case of utilizing the Inari ClotTriever to perform aortoiliac mechanical thrombectomy and the ARTIX thrombectomy system to perform an embolectomy the superficial femoral artery, highlighting new therapies to treat AIOD., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Acute limb ischemia (ALI) is a large contributor to morbidity and mortality annually and can be managed either operatively or medically. ALI is most often caused by arterial embolism or in situ thrombosis and treatment is often dependent upon the severity. Anticoagulation is considered standard of care and first line therapy. However, more severe cases of ALI require surgical intervention.Paradoxical emboli are a rare and potentially under-appreciated cause of ALI. They arise when venous emboli, from a variety of sources, traverse a patent foramen ovale (PFO) to enter the arterial system, compromising blood flow to the affected end organ. In most cases, they can only be proven if the thrombus is identified as it crosses the cardiac defect, at which point it is an indication for surgery requiring PFO closure, management for the ischemia itself, and possible intervention for the embolism.In this report, we identify and discuss management of a series of cases where ALI was precipitated by PFOs that were discovered in the context of a pulmonary emboli that developed into paradoxical emboli. All patients had a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 which has been associated with a state of hypercoagulability and subsequent thrombus formation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Introduction: Targeted false lumen management has been described for complex presentations of aortic dissection. The "Knickerbocker" technique is often referenced and includes dilating a focal portion of an oversized endograft in the true lumen to purposefully rupture the false lumen septum, but at the expense of increased risk for visceral propagation and malperfusion. This case series describes a novel modification of the Knickerbocker technique by caging the distal end of the endograft prior to focal dilation., Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at a tertiary academic center from 2018-2020. Patients were included if they had a history or current presentation of aortic dissection and underwent a Caged Knickerbocker (CKB) repair. Data were collected to include demographics, indications for repair, technical success, perioperative outcomes, hospital course, mortality, and further aortic interventions., Results: Five patients were included in our evaluation. Four patients (80%) presented with chronic Type B aortic dissection (cTBAD) and concomitant aneurysmal degeneration of the thoracic aorta; 1 patient (20%) presented with an acute rupture secondary to cTBAD. Three patients (60%) had previous aortic repairs, 2 of which were for Type A Aortic Dissection that additionally required redo sternotomy and total arch replacement prior to CKB. CKB was technically successful in all cases with no peri-operative complications. Two (40%) patients required further aortic intervention due to aneurysmal degeneration., Conclusion: Achieving complete false lumen thrombosis is a considerable challenge when managing complex aortic dissections. Our data demonstrate the technical feasibly and early successful outcomes with the CKB approach. Importantly, CKB facilitates future distal extension into the para-visceral aorta in cases of complex thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. Further research should focus on discerning individual patients who will benefit from targeted false lumen management and compare outcomes between different approaches.

Background: Treatment of chronic limb threatening ischemia (CLTI) poses a significant clinical challenge despite recent medical advancements. Chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions make endovascular approaches to CLTI particularly challenging. Open proximal exposure with retrograde access and stenting (OPERAS) aims to solve this challenge through retrograde subintimal crossing of a CTO with direct visualization of proximal re-entry into the true lumen. We describe this novel technique and present its efficacy in eight patients., Methods: We conducted a retrospective case series at a single tertiary academic center. Data for patients who received OPERAS intervention included demographics, peri-operative details, and follow-up information. Statistical analysis was performed on length of stay, major post-operative complications, further intervention, clinical progression at 1 year, and amputation-free survival at 1 year. Immediate technical failure (ITF) and limb-based patency (LBP) at 1 year were calculated., Results: Nine limbs underwent OPERAS between January 2019 and March 2020. Inflow was achieved with common femoral artery endarterectomy. All limbs underwent balloon angioplasty and stenting of the SFA, and seven underwent the same procedure in the popliteal artery. ITF was 0% for all nine cases. There were no major post-operative complications, and ankle-brachial index significantly improved pre-and post-operatively ( P < .001). Eight limbs (88.9%) sustained amputation-free survival at 1 year, and overall LBP was 67% at 1 year., Conclusion: Our study presents a hybrid revascularization option to address severe, anatomically complex limbs (GLASS III) that lack a single autogenous conduit for open surgical revascularization. OPERAS addresses a main point of technical failure of subintimal techniques by directly visualizing the wire in the true lumen. Our data suggest that OPERAS can be effective to: (1) improve technical success of luminal re-entry following a subintimal approach; (2) address inflow concurrently with severe femoropopliteal disease; and (3) can be utilized when distal tissue loss is involved.

Background: Expanded applications and increasing volumes of complex endovascular procedures have increased the risk of unintended intraoperative fragmentation and retention of catheters and sheaths. We describe a series of retained or fragmented endovascular devices, a quality improvement program to address this unmet need for improved detection of catheter fragmentation, and the results of this program., Methods: Cases utilizing endovascular devices that resulted in a retained catheter fragment were identified and analyzed during divisional quality improvement review. One consistent area of concern was operating room (OR) staff unfamiliarity with verifying the integrity of an endovascular device. In response, a slide-based training protocol of focused, endovascular nursing education was implemented. Following perceived lack of improvement after this approach, we developed a handheld visual reference display of the tips of common catheters and sheaths. Staff was surveyed before and after intervention to assess the educational value of the display and the impact on staff device familiarity., Results: All 4 described cases resulted in an unplanned return to the OR for retrieval of the fragmented catheter or sheath. No thromboembolic complications were observed, although associated intra-arterial thrombus was noted in 2 cases. Thirty-four OR nurses were polled to trial the visual reference display initiative, with 70% of those reporting primary surgical assignments outside of cardiovascular ORs. Introduction of the new visual reference display improved staff confidence in their ability to identify a broken device (2.4-3.7, P < .001). This improvement was most significant in OR staff with primary assignments in noncardiovascular services., Conclusion: Current OR standard operating procedures fail to address the potential for unintentionally retained catheters and wires during endovascular procedures. Our novel visual reference display of common endovascular items rather than conventional in-service training improved the ability of staff to identify device fragmentation at the time of the index procedure.