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Background: Despite the development in endovascular technologies and the introduction of new tools in clinical practice, the endovascular crossing of femoropopliteal occlusions is not always possible with the antegrade approach, with a failure rate that can be up to 20%. This study aims to assess the feasibility, safety, and efficacy in terms of acute outcome of the endovascular retrograde crossing of femoro-popliteal occlusions with tibial access., Methods: This study is a single-centre, retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 152 consecutive patients, who had undergone, from September 2015 to September 2022, endovascular treatment of femoro-popliteal arterial occlusions with retrograde tibial access after the failure of the antegrade approach., Results: The median lesion length was 25 cm and 66 patients (43.4%) had a calcium grading according to the peripheral arterial calcium scoring system of 4. Angiographically, 44.7% of the lesions were TASC II category D. In all cases, successful cannulation and sheath introduction were performed with an average cannulation time of 150.4 s. Femoropopliteal occlusions were successfully crossed with the retrograde route in 94.1% of cases; the intimal approach was performed in 114 patients (79.7%). The mean time from puncture to retrograde crossing was 20.5 min. Acute vascular access-site complications were noted in 7 (4.6%) patients. Thirty-day major adverse cardiovascular events rate and 30-day major adverse limb events rate of 3.3% and 2%, respectively, were observed., Conclusions: The results of our study indicate that retrograde crossing of femoro-popliteal occlusions with tibial access is a feasible, effective, and safe approach in case of failed antegrade approach. The results presented represent one of the largest investigations ever published on tibial retrograde access and contribute to the small body of literature present on this topic to date., (© 2023 The Authors. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Chronic Venous Disease (CVD) has a high prevalence in the western world. Varicose veins (VVs) are the main signs of this disease that is characterized by important pathological vessel wall changes. The aim of this study is to correlate the main histopathological abnormalities with related clinical issues of CVD., Methods: A cohort of patients with VVs scheduled for open surgical treatment namely stab avulsion of VVs was recruited. Subsequently, venous tissue from stab avulsion was collected in order to evaluate the following biomarkers: Vascular-Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Protein Gene Product 9.5 (PGP 9.5), Fibronectin (FN), and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). The Clinical-Etiology-Anatomy-Pathophysiology (CEAP) criteria were used to classify CVD., Results: Fourteen tissue fragments were processed for histological and immunohistochemical studies. Of these, 43% were from CEAP C2 patients, 36% from CEAP C3 patients, and 21% from CEAP C4 patients. CEAP Class C2 had few to moderate structures positive to VEGF; occasional structures positive to Fibronectin, numerous structures positive to MMP9, few to moderate structures positive to PGP 9.5. CEAP Class C3 had moderate structures positive to VEGF; few to moderate structures positive to Fibronectin; many structures positive to MMP9; few to moderate structures positive to PGP 9.5. CEAP Class C4 had numerous structures positive to VEGF; numerous structures positive to Fibronectin; abundant structures positive to MMP-9; few structures positive to PGP 9.5., Conclusions: In this study, positive VEGF, FN, and MMP-9 structures were found with increasing trends in relation to the disease staging. VEGF and FN are associated with a progressive increase from C2 to C4. The MMP-9 marker has an important positivity even at early stage of the disease, being higher in CEAP C4 patients. PGP 9.5 decreases in CEAP C4 patients and this is concordant to decreased vein wall innervation., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Femoropopliteal bypass occlusions are a significant issue in patients with critical limb ischemia and chronic total occlusion of the native superficial femoral artery, which challenges vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists. Performing a secondary femoropopliteal bypass is still considered the standard of care, although it is associated with a higher complication rate and lower patency rate in comparison with primary bypass. Over the past few years, angioplasty has been commonly used, with the development in endovascular technologies, to treat chronic total occlusions of the native superficial femoral artery, with a good technical success rate and clinical prognosis. The purpose of the study is to assess the outcome of endovascular recanalization of chronic total occlusions of the native superficial femoral artery, in patients unfit for surgery with critical limb ischemia after failed femoropopliteal bypass., Results: A total of 54 patients were treated. 77.8 % of the conduits were PTFE grafts; the remainder were single-segment great saphenous veins. The most common clinical presentation was rest pain. Technical success was achieved in 51 (94.4 %) of 54 limbs. Angiographically, 77.8 % of the lesions were TASC II category D, while 22.2 % were TASC II category C. The average length of the native SFA lesions was 26.8 cm. Clinical success, with improved Rutherford classification staging, followed each case of technical success. The median follow-up value was 5.75 years (IQR, 1.5-7). By Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, primary patency rates were 61 % (± 0.07 SE) at 1 year and 46 % (± 0.07 SE) at 5 years. Secondary patency rates were 93 % (± 0.04 SE) at 1 year and 61 % (± 0.07 SE) at 5 years. Limb salvage rates were 94 % (± 0.03 SE) at 1 year and 88 % (± 0.05 SE) at 5 years., Conclusions: The endovascular recanalization of chronic total occlusions (CTO) of the native superficial femoral artery (SFA) after a failed femoropopliteal bypass is a safe and effective therapeutic option in patients unfit for surgery with critical limb ischemia., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The purpose of this report is to present the case of a 75-year-old male affected by right common femoral artery and abdominal aortic aneurysms. His clinical history was also characterised by post-ischaemic cardiomyopathy, arterial hypertension, chronic respiratory disease and peripheral arterial disease. We performed two surgical procedures: right femoral aneurysmectomy and femoro-femoral bypass and subsequently a femoro-femoral crossover bypass plus right femoro-popliteal bypass below the knee. The second operation became necessary in order to treat acute occlusion of the right iliac-femoral arterial axis. The patient developed a progressive and aggressive lower limb post-perfusion syndrome associated to frank peripheral oedema, myocardial stunning, reperfusion arrhythmias, renal failure and respiratory distress. Cutaneous alterations (oedema of the leg, mottled skin and cyanosis of the foot) were more specific compared with Doppler ultrasound that showed the presence of adequate blood flow in the early phase. On the basis of this experience and of pertinent literature, this study represents a challenge for the understanding of the exact mechanism of origin and progression of post-reperfusion syndrome., (© 2014 The Authors. International Wound Journal © 2014 Medicalhelplines.com Inc and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Aim: The study aims to analyze retrospective results of extensive endovascular repair of the descending thoracic aorta with special attention to spinal cord malperfusion., Methods: From April 2002 through November 2011, 21 patients underwent stent-graft coverage of the thoracic aorta from the aortic arch at the origin of the left subclavian artery to the celiac trunk, 6 (mean age =72.3±8.1) for aneurysm disease, 13 (mean age =74.3±8.4) for type B aortic dissection and 2 (mean age =52.1±6.5) for aortic rupture. The mean of aortic diameter in cases with aneurysm disease was 7.1±1.6 cm and the causes of aortic rupture were post-traumatic and aneurysm pathology respectively. In all cases needing coverage of the left subclavian artery duplex ultrasonography and flowmetry were performed to evaluate patency and flow of both the vertebral arteries., Results: Technical success was 100% with 0% in-hospital mortality. The left subclavian artery was crossed with the uncovered portion of the stent-graft in 11 cases (52.4%) and the covered segment in the other 10 patients (47.6%) without subclavian revascularization because no pre-operative hemodynamic alterations of vertebral arteries were revealed by duplex ultrasonography. The incidence of paraplegia was 9.5% in 2 patients who had prior abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: the first case with preoperative type B aortic dissection presented significant lower extremity paresis within 24 hours after the procedure and in the second patient with a large thoracic aneurysm the signs of paraplegia were evident 3 weeks after discharge from Hospital probably due to delayed occlusion of a major medullary artery. The cumulative survival rate after 1, 3 and 9 years was 91%, 81%, and 71%., Conclusions: The coverage of the entire thoracic aorta is an effective procedure with high probability of success. Spinal cord malperfusion remains a serious complication especially in patients with prior aortic surgery but if collateral blood supply is maintained the occlusion of intercostal arteries do not determine paraplegia or paraparesis. In order to consider acute or chronic occlusion of subclavian, lumbar or hypogastric arteries so preventing spinal cord ischemia, strong preoperative evaluation including analysis of previous surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and avoidance of T12 aortic segment coverage if feasible is mandatory.

In the last few years the increasing interest for non-invasive operating techniques has allowed to reevaluate the sublinguinal varicocelectomy surgical technique for idiopathic varicocele surgical treatment. During the years 1998-2001, 29 patients have been operated on sub-inguinal varicocelectomy (14 patients were suffering from idiopathic varicocele of third grade, 11 of second grade, 3 of first grade, and 1 subclinical). Out of the 29 patients, only 10 were unable to procreate. All patients were operated under local anesthesia and discharged the same day (day-surgery). Owing to Authors' experience, the sublinguinal varicocelectomy by optical magnifying devices represents the "gold standard" in the idiopathic varicocele treatment because it allows to minimize relapsing rates, to limit post-operation complications, to improve the reproductive faculty of seminal fluid both qualitatively and quantitatively, to cut patient's operating costs significantly, to keep the operation time within acceptable limits, and to be easily learned and carried out.