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Contemporary quality control methods are often insufficient in predicting clinical outcomes after revascularization in lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD) patients. This study evaluates the potential of near-infrared fluorescence imaging with indocyanine green to predict the clinical outcome following revascularization. Near-infrared fluorescence imaging was performed before and within 5 days following the revascularization procedure. Clinical improvement was defined as substantial improvement of pain free walking distance, reduction of rest- and/or nocturnal pain, or tendency toward wound healing. Time-intensity curves and 8 perfusion parameters were extracted from the dorsum of the treated foot. The quantified postinterventional perfusion improvement was compared within the clinical outcome groups. Successful near-infrared fluorescence imaging was performed in 72 patients (76 limbs, 52.6% claudication, 47.4% chronic limb-threatening ischemia) including 40 endovascular- and 36 surgical/hybrid revascularizations. Clinical improvement was observed in 61 patients. All perfusion parameters showed a significant postinterventional difference in the clinical improvement group (P -values <.001), while no significant differences were seen in the group without clinical improvement (P -values.168–.929). Four parameters demonstrated significant differences in percentage improvement comparing the outcome groups (P -values within.002–.006). Near-infrared fluorescence imaging has promising additional value besides clinical parameters for predicting the clinical outcome of revascularized LEAD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The angiosome concept is defined as the anatomical territory of a source artery within all tissue layers. When applying this theory in vascular surgery, direct revascularization (DR) is preferred to achieve increased blood flow toward the targeted angiosome of the foot in patients with lower extremity arterial disease (LEAD). This study evaluates the applicability of the angiosome concept using quantified near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging with indocyanine green (ICG)., Methods: This study included patients undergoing an endovascular- or surgical revascularization of the leg between January 2019 and December 2021. Preinterventional and postinterventional ICG NIR fluorescence imaging was performed. Three angiosomes on the dorsum of the foot were determined: the posterior tibial artery (hallux), the anterior tibial artery (dorsum of the foot) and the combined angiosome (second to fifth digit). The angiosomes were classified from the electronic patient records and the degree of collateralization was classified based on preprocedural computed tomography angiography and/or X-ray angiography. Fluorescence intensity was quantified in all angiosomes. A subgroup analysis based on endovascular or surgical revascularized angiosomes, and within critical limb threatening ischemia (CLTI) patients was performed., Results: ICG NIR fluorescence measurements were obtained in 52 patients (54 limbs) including a total of 157 angiosomes (121 DR and 36 indirect revascularizations [IR]). A significant improvement of all perfusion parameters in both the directly and indirectly revascularized angiosomes was found (P-values between <0.001-0.007). Within the indirectly revascularized angiosomes, 90.6% of the scored collaterals were classified as significant. When comparing the percentual change in perfusion parameters between the directly and indirectly revascularized angiosomes, no significant difference was seen in all perfusion parameters (P-values between 0.253 and 0.881). Similar results were shown in the CLTI patients subgroup analysis, displaying a significant improvement of perfusion parameters in both the direct and indirect angiosome groups (P-values between <0.001 and 0.007), and no significant difference when comparing the percentual parameter improvement between both angiosome groups (P-values between 0.134 and 0.359). Furthermore, no significant differences were observed when comparing percentual changes of perfusion parameters in directly and indirectly revascularized angiosomes for both endovascular and surgical interventions (P-values between 0.053 and 0.899)., Conclusions: This study proves that both DR and IR of an angiosome leads to an improvement of perfusion. This suggests that interventional strategies should not only focus on creating in-line flow to the supplying angiosome. One can argue that the angiosome concept is not applicable in patients with LEAD., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The goal of our study was to determine the influence of ultrasound (US)-coupled volume navigation on the use of computed tomography (CT) during minimally-invasive radiofrequency and microwave ablation procedures of liver lesions., Method: Twenty-five patients with 40 liver lesions of different histological origin were retrospectively analysed. Lesions were ablated following standard protocol, using 1) conventional US-guidance, 2) manual registered volume navigation ( m VNav), 3) automatic registered ( a VNav) or 4) CT-guidance. In case of ultrasonographically inconspicuous lesions, conventional US-guidance was abandoned and m VNav was used. If m VNav was also unsuccessful, the procedure was either continued with a VNav or CT-guidance. The number, size and location of the lesions targeted using the different approaches were documented., Results: Of the 40 lesions, sixteen (40.0 %) could be targeted with conventional US-guidance only, sixteen (40.0 %) with m VNav, three (7.5 %) with a VNav and five (12.5 %) only through the use of CT-guidance. Of the three alternatives ( m VNav, a VNav and CT only) the mean size of the lesions targeted using m VNav (9.1 ± 4.6 mm) was significantly smaller from those targeted using US-guidance only (20.4 ± 9.4 mm; p < 0.001). The location of the lesions did not influence the selection of the modality used to guide the ablation., Conclusions: In our cohort, m VNav allowed the ablation procedure to become less dependent on the use of CT. m VNav supported the ablation of lesions smaller than those that could be ablated with US only and doubled the application of minimally-invasive US-guided ablations., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Objective: Spinal cord injury is a devastating complication after endovascular thoracic and thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair (EVAR). Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) can be monitored to detect spinal cord injury, but may also be affected by peripheral ischemia caused by femoral artery sheaths. We aimed to determine the incidence of peripheral ischemia during EVAR, and whether central and peripheral ischemia can be distinguished using compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs)., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed all EVAR procedures between March 1st 2015 and January 1st 2020 during which MEPs were monitored. Peripheral ischemia was defined as both a reduction in MEP amplitudes reversed by removing the femoral sheaths and no clinical signs of immediate post-procedural paraparesis. All other MEP decreases were defined as central ischemia., Results: A significant MEP decrease occurred in 14/27 (52%) of all procedures. Simultaneous CMAP amplitude reduction was observed in 7/8 (88%) of procedures where peripheral ischemia occurred, and never in procedures with central ischemia., Conclusions: MEP reductions due to peripheral ischemia are common during EVAR. A MEP-reduction without a CMAP decrease indicates central ischemia., Significance: CMAP measurements can help to distinguish central from peripheral ischemia, potentially reducing the chance of misinterpreting of MEP amplitude declines as centrally mediated, without affecting sensitivity., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2020 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V.)