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INTRODUCTION In recent years advances have been made in the microsurgical treatment of congenital or acquired central lymphatic lesions. While acquired lesions can result from any surgery or trauma of the central lymphatic system, congenital lymphatic lesions can have a variety of manifestations, ranging from singular thoracic duct abnormalities to complex multifocal malformations. Both conditions may cause recurrent chylous effusions and downstream lymphatic congestion depending on the anatomical location of the thoracic duct lesion and are associated with an increased mortality due to the permanent loss of protein and fluid. METHODS We present a case series of eleven patients undergoing central lymphatic reconstruction, consisting of one patient with a cervical iatrogenic thoracic duct lesion and eleven patients with different congenital thoracic duct lesions or thrombotic occlusions. RESULTS Anastomosis of the thoracic duct and a nearby vein was performed on different anatomical levels depending on the underlying central lymphatic pathology. Cervical (n = 4), thoracic (n = 1) or abdominal access (n = 5) was used for central lymphatic reconstruction with promising results. In 9 patients a postoperative benefit with varying degrees of symptom regression was reported. CONCLUSION The presented case series illustrates the current rapid advances in the field of central microsurgical reconstruction of lymphatic lesions alongside the relevant literature.

Advances in the development of robotic systems have recently enabled the use of robotic technology in reconstructive lymphatic surgery. Although the advantages of microsurgical robots must be weighed carefully against the costs, their use may allow for smaller surgical approaches and easier access to anatomically deeper structures or even smaller vessels. We report on a case of a patient with central lymphatic dilation causing abdominal pain and severely reduced physical capacity. Sonography-assisted intranodal injection of indocyanine green allowed for localization of the lymphatic cyst and anastomosis with the left ovarian vein, applying robotic-assisted microsurgery for the first time on the central lymphatic system. Following the successful reconstruction of lymphatic drainage and decompression of the cyst, the patient reported a complete regression of her preoperative symptoms. From a surgical point of view, the Symani Surgical System improved precision and allowed significantly smaller surgical access. Considering the high morbidity and rarity of pathologies of the central lymphatic system, central lymphatic surgery is to date rarely performed. With improved precision and significantly smaller surgical access, robotic-assisted microsurgery has great potential to expand the treatment options for central lymphatic lesions.

BACKGROUND The heterogeneous quality of studies on arteriovenous fistulas outcome, with variable clinical settings and large variations in definitions of patency and failure rates, leads to frequent misinterpretations and overestimation of arteriovenous fistula patency. Hence, this study aimed to provide realistic and clinically relevant long-term arteriovenous fistula outcomes. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed all autologous arteriovenous fistulas at our center over a 10-year period (2012-2022). Primary and secondary patency analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method; multivariate analysis of variance was used to detect outcome predictors. Vascular access-specific endpoints were defined according to the European guidelines on vascular access formation. FINDINGS Of 312 arteriovenous fistulas, 57.5% (n = 181) were radio-cephalic (RC_AVF), 35.2% (n = 111) brachio-cephalic (BC_AVF), and 6.3% (n = 20) brachio-basilic (BB_AVF). 6, 12, and 24 months follow-up was available in 290 (92.1%), 282 (89.5%), and 259 (82.2%) patients, respectively. Primary patency rates at 6, 12, and 24 months were 39.5%, 34.8%, and 27.2% for RC_AVF, 58.3%, 44.4%, and 27.8% for BC_AVF, and 40.0%, 42.1%, and 22.2% for BB_AVF (p = 0.15). Secondary patency rates at 6, 12, and 24 months were 65.7%, 63.8%, and 59.0% for RC_AVF, 77.7%, 72.0%, and 59.6% for BC_AVF, and 65.0%, 68.4%, and 61.1% for BB_AVF (p = 0.29). Factors associated with lower primary and secondary patency were hemodialysis at time of arteriovenous fistula formation (p = 0.037 and p = 0.024, respectively) and higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (p = 0.036 and p < 0.001, respectively). Previous kidney transplant showed inferior primary patency (p = 0.005); higher age inferior secondary patency (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION Vascular access care remains challenging and salvage interventions are often needed to achieve maturation or maintain patency. Strict adherence to standardized outcome reporting in vascular access surgery paints

BACKGROUND Fontan-associated liver disease is an increasing concern. Our aim was to assess prevalence and predictors of advanced liver fibrosis with a specific focus on utility of liver stiffness measurement by ultrasound transient elastography. METHODS 97 adult Fontan-patients (55% males, median age: 23.1 years, IQR: 18.7-30.6), 92 (95%) were evaluated with transient elastography and 50 (52%) underwent transjugular liver biopsy. Advanced liver fibrosis was defined as congestive hepatic fibrosis score 3 or 4. RESULTS Only four patients (4%) had liver stiffness values <10kPa. Liver stiffness measurements correlated weakly with peak oxygen uptake on exercise testing and Fontan-pressure but not with Model for End-stage Liver Disease excluding INR (MELD-XI)-score or spleen size. Serial follow-up liver stiffness measurements in 73 clinically stable patients showed large variability among individual patients. Advanced liver fibrosis was present in 35/50 (70%) patients on liver biopsy and was associated to MELD-XI-Score ≥11 and splenomegaly but not to liver stiffness measurements. Advanced liver fibrosis was not associated with patient age or time since Fontan-operation but with younger age at Fontan-completion (3.7 years, IQR: 2.3-6.3 versus 6.8 years, IQR: 3.5-12.1, p = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS In our cohort, advanced liver fibrosis was present in the majority of adult Fontan-patients. Liver stiffness as measured by transient elastography was not associated with the degree of liver fibrosis. Due to its high variability on serial measurements it seems not to be useful for clinical decision-making. The unexpected finding that younger age at Fontan-completion was associated with advanced liver fibrosis merits further evaluation.

PURPOSE Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) affect the vascular perfusion of the lumbar spine. The treatment of AAAs with endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) completely occludes the direct vascular supply to the lumbar spine. We hypothesized that patients with AAA who undergo EVAR show a different pattern of spinal degeneration than individuals without AAA. METHODS In this retrospective institutional review board-approved study, 100 randomly selected patients with AAA who underwent EVAR with computed tomography (CT) scans between 2005 and 2017 were compared with age- and gender-matched controls without AAA. In addition, long-term follow-up CT images (> 6 months before EVAR, at the time of EVAR, and > 12 months after EVAR) of the patients were analysed to compare the progression of degeneration from before to after EVAR. Degeneration scores, lumbar levels with the most severe degeneration, and lumbar levels with progressive degeneration were analysed in all CT images. Fisher's exact test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and Mann-Whitney U test were performed for statistical analyses. RESULTS Compared with the control group (n = 94), the most severe degeneration was more commonly detected in the mid-lumbar area in the patient group (n = 100, p = 0.016), with significantly more endplate erosions being detected in the lumbar spine (p = 0.015). However, EVAR did not result in significant additional acceleration of the degenerative process in the long-term follow-up analysis (n = 51). CONCLUSION AAA is associated with atypical, more cranially located spinal degradation, particularly in the mid-lumbar segments; however, EVAR does not seem to additionally accelerate the degenerative process. This observation underlines the importance of disc and endplate vascularization in the pathomechanism of spinal degeneration. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE I Diagnostic: individual cross-sectional studies with consistently applied reference standard and blinding.

OBJECTIVES: Surgical repair of aneurysmal disease involving the ascending aorta, aortic arch and eventually the descending aorta is generally associated with significant morbidity and mortality. A less invasive approach with the ascending wrapping technique (WT), supra-aortic vessel debranching (SADB) and thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair (TEVAR) in zone 0 was developed to reduce the associated risk in these patients. METHODS: During a 10-year period, consecutive patients treated by the ascending WT, SADB and TEVAR in zone 0 were included. All patients were considered at high risk for conventional surgery. Measured outcomes included perioperative deaths and morbidity, maximal aortic transverse diameter (TD) and its postoperative evolution, endoleak, survival, freedom from cardiovascular reinterventions, SADB freedom from occlusion and aortic valve function during follow-up. Median follow-up was 37.4 [mean = 34; range, 0-65; standard deviation (SD) = 20] months. RESULTS: Twenty-six cases were included with a mean age of 71.88 (r = 56-87; SD = 8) years. A mean of 2.9 supra-aortic vessels (75) per patient was debranched from the ascending aorta. The mean time interval from WT/SADB and TEVAR was 29 (r = 0-204; SD = 48) days. TEVAR was associated with chimney and/or periscope grafts in 6 (23%) patients, and extra-anatomical supra-aortic bypasses were performed in 6 (23%) patients. Perioperative mortality was 7.7% (2/26). Neurological events were registered in 3 (11.5%) cases, and a reintervention was required in 3 (11.5%) cases. After the WT, the ascending diameter remained stable during the follow-up period in all cases. At mean follow-up, significant shrinkage of the arch/descending aorta diameter was observed. A type I/III endoleak occurred in 3 cases. At 5 years, the rates of survival, freedom from cardiovascular reinterventions and SADB freedom from occlusion were 71.7, 82.3 and 96%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the ascending WT, SADB and TEVAR in selec

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of fusion of pretreatment magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with posttreatment perfusion-CT (P-CT) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and to determine treatment success in an objective, quantitative way. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this institutional review board-approved study, 39 patients (78.4% male; mean age 68.2 ± 8.5 years) with a total of 43 HCCs, who underwent RFA at our institution and had diagnostic pre-RFA MR imaging and post-RFA P-CT, were included in the study. Post-RFA P-CT was performed within 24 hours after RFA. In a first step, the pre-RFA MR imaging, depicting the HCC, was registered onto the post-RFA P-CT using nonrigid image registration. After image registration, the MR data were reloaded jointly with the calculated perfusion parameter volumes into the perfusion application for quantitative analysis. A 3-dimensional volume of interest was drawn around the HCC and the ablation zone; both outlines were automatically projected onto all perfusion maps. Resulting perfusion values (normalized peak enhancement [NPE, %]; arterial liver perfusion [ALP, in mL/min/100 mL]; BF [blood flow, mL/100 mL/min]; and blood volume [BV, mL/100 mL]) and histogram data were recorded. Local tumor recurrence was defined in follow-up imaging according to the EASL guidelines. RESULTS: Image registration of MR imaging and CT data was successful in 37 patients (94.9%). Local tumor recurrence was observed in 5 HCCs (12%). In the local tumor recurrence group (LTR-group), HCC size was significantly larger (22.7 ± 3.9 cm vs 17.8 ± 5.3 cm, P = 0.035) and the ablation zone was significantly smaller (29.8 ± 6.9 cm vs 39.3 ± 6.8 cm, P = 0.014) compared with the no-local tumor recurrence group (no-LTR group). The differences (ablation zone - tumor) of the perfusion parameters NPE, ALP, BF, and BV significantly differed between the 2 groups (all P's < 0.005). Especially, the difference (abla

BACKGROUND Chylous leak is an uncommon complication after head and neck surgery and typically results from a lesion of the thoracic duct (TD). Beside conservative treatment, different minimally invasive and surgical procedures exist, of which almost all lead to a total closure of the TD. METHODS We report on a rare case of microsurgical lymphovenous anastomosis to treat a TD lesion. An additional systematic review on surgical procedures to treat TD lesions with special attention to lymphovenous anastomoses was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. RESULTS A 52-year-old patient with a chylous fistula after modified radical neck dissection was successfully treated by a lymphovenous anastomosis of the TD and external jugular vein with additional coverage by sternocleidomastoid muscle flap. The patient showed a complete resolution of chylous leak with an uneventful postoperative course.The systematic search of literature yielded 684 articles with 4 case reports on lymphovenous anastomosis in chylous leak with a high success rate. Other surgical techniques include transcervical, thoracoscopic, or video-assisted thoracoscopic TD ligation, either alone or combined with a local muscle flap. CONCLUSIONS Lymphovenous anastomosis of the TD is a feasible and safe technique allowing for treatment of cervical TD lesions, especially if minimally invasive procedures fail. Compared with other techniques, lymphatic circulation can successfully be maintained.

Objective: Visceral artery pseudoaneurysms (VAPA) are associated with a high morbidity and mortality, but sometimes are missed in initial computed tomography (CT) examinations. The aims of this study were to determine the frequency and causes of misdiagnoses of VAPA with CT. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively identified 77 patients with VAPA in our database who underwent contrast-enhanced CT. The frequency of delayed diagnosis was determined and the reasons were noted. We identified the etiology of VAPA, measured size, and noted the affected vessels. Results: Forty-five of the 77 patients (58 %) had a delayed diagnosis of VAPA. There was no difference in the rate of missed VAPA in symptomatic compared to asymptomatic patients (p = 0.255). The majority of VAPA were associated with previous surgery or interventions (n = 48/62 %). The major affected vessel was the hepatic (n = 31) followed by the splenic artery (n = 17). The main reasons for misdiagnosis were a missed arterial phase in CT (n = 16/36 %), artifacts masking the aneurysm (n = 9/20 %), overlooked pseudoaneurysm (n = 19/42 %), and misinterpretation by attending radiologists (n = 1/2 %). Missed VAPA were smaller (median 8 mm) than those VAPA that were initially diagnosed (median 13 mm, p < 0.01), but occurred with a similar frequency in larger and smaller visceral arteries (p = 0.601). Conclusions: Our study showed that 58 % of VAPA were diagnosed with delay, with the following four reasons for misdiagnosis: Lack of an arterial contrast phase in CT, no techniques for artifact reduction, and lack of awareness of the radiologists. Avoiding delayed diagnosis will most probably improve outcome of patients with VAPA.

Objective: To determine the best predictor for the response to and survival with transarterial radioembolisation (RE) with 90yttrium microspheres in patients with liver metastases. Methods: Forty consecutive patients with liver metastases undergoing RE were evaluated with multiphase CT, perfusion CT and 99mTc-MAA SPECT. Arterial perfusion (AP) from perfusion CT, HU values from the arterial (aHU) and portal venous phase (pvHU) CT, and 99mTc-MAA uptake ratio of metastases were determined. Morphologic response was evaluated after 4months and available in 30 patients. One-year survival was calculated with Kaplan-Meier curves. Results: We found significant differences between responders and non-responders for AP (P < 0.001) and aHU (P = 0.001) of metastases, while no differences were found for pvHU (P = 0.07) and the 99mTc-MAA uptake ratio (P = 0.40). AP had a significantly higher specificity than aHU (P = 0.003) for determining responders to RE. Patients with an AP >20ml/100ml/min had a significantly (P = 0.01) higher 1-year survival, whereas an aHU value >55 HU did not discriminate survival (P = 0.12). The Cox proportional hazard model revealed AP as the only significant (P = 0.02) independent predictor of survival. Conclusion: Compared to arterial and portal venous enhancement and the 99mTc-MAA uptake ratio of liver metastases, the AP from perfusion CT is the best predictor of morphologic response to and 1-year survival with RE. Key Points : • Perfusion CT allows for calculation of the liver arterial perfusion. • Arterial perfusion of liver metastases differs between responders and non-responders to RE. • Arterial perfusion can be used to select patients responding to RE.

Objective: To evaluate prospectively, in patients undergoing body CTA, the radiation dose saving potential of raw data-based iterative reconstruction as compared to filtered back projection (FBP). Methods: Twenty-five patients underwent thoraco-abdominal CTA with 128-slice dual-source CT, operating both tubes at 120kV. Full-dose (FD) images were reconstructed with FBP and were compared to half-dose (HD) images with FBP and HD-images with sinogram-affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE), both reconstructed using data from only one tube-detector-system. Image quality and sharpness of the aortic contour were assessed. Vessel attenuation and noise were measured, contrast-to-noise-ratio was calculated. Results: Noise as image quality deteriorating artefact occurred in 24/25 (96%) HD-FBP but not in FD-FBP and HD-raw data-based iterative reconstruction datasets (p < 0.001). Other artefacts occurred with similar prevalence among the datasets. Sharpness of the aortic contour was higher for FD-FBP and HD-raw data-based iterative reconstruction as compared to HD-FBP (p < 0.001). Aortoiliac attenuation was similar among all datasets (p > 0.05). Lowest noise was found for HD-raw data-based iterative reconstruction (7.23HU), being 9.4% lower than that in FD-FBP (7.98HU, p < 0.05) and 30.8% lower than in HD-FBP images (10.44HU, p < 0.001). Contrast-to-noise-ratio was lower in HD-FBP (p < 0.001) and higher in HD-raw data-based iterative reconstruction (p < 0.001) as compared to FD-FBP. Conclusion: Intra-individual comparisons of image quality of body CTA suggest that raw data-based iterative reconstruction allows for dose reduction >50% while maintaining image quality. Key Points • Raw data-based iterative reconstruction reduces image noise and improves image quality as compared to filtered back projection • At a similar radiation dose, raw data-based iterative reconstruction improves the sharpness of vessel contours • In body CTA a dose reduction of >50% might be possible when

Objective: To assess intra-, inter-reader agreement, and the agreement between two software packages for magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measurements of the median nerve. Materials and methods: Fifteen healthy volunteers (seven men, eight women; mean age, 31.2years) underwent DTI of both wrists at 1.5T. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the median nerve were measured by three readers using two commonly used software packages. Measurements were repeated by two readers after 6weeks. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results: ICCs for intra-reader agreement ranged from 0.87 to 0.99, for inter-reader agreement from 0.62 to 0.83, and between the two software packages from 0.63 to 0.82. Bland-Altman analysis showed no differences for intra- and inter-reader agreement and agreement between software packages. Conclusion: The intra-, inter-reader, and agreement between software packages for DTI measurements of the median nerve were moderate to substantial suggesting that user- and software-dependent factors contribute little to variance in DTI measurements