Use and effectiveness of Pioneer re-entry device for subintimal true lumen re-entry: single-centre data and a review of the literature

Introduction During subintimal angioplasty (SIA), it is not always possible to re-enter the vessel lumen due to a variety of factors. Recanalization using hydrophilic wires and catheters alone, apart from its potential technical failure, is also limited by minimal control over the re-entry point. This is frequently well beyond the point of occlusion, thus often compromising important collaterals. In order to bypass the obstruction and attain controlled re-entry into the lumen of the diseased vessel, a re-entry device (RED) may be required. This paper assesses our centre’s experience with the safety and efficacy of the Pioneer re-entry system and systematically reviews the pertinent literature. Method A single centre retrospective study of subintimal angioplasty involving the use of the Pioneer Plus intravascular guided reentry catheter was performed. Patient demographics including age, gender, risk factors, comorbidities clinical indication and complications were recorded. Lesion characteristics, including location and severity of calcification were also assessed. A systematic literature review of all reported studies where the Pioneer RED was used for iliac and lower limb revascularization was conducted by 2 of the authors using the PubMed (MEDLINE) and EMBASE databases. Results The study comprised 30 cases. Technical success was 97%. A small, quickly resolved extravasation was the only device related complication. These results are in line with the systematic review which identified 16 studies using the Pioneer RED, reporting a technical success rate of 87.4–100% (median = 100%) and complication rate of 0–25.8% (median = 0%). However, due to heterogeneity in definitions of technical success, data was not pooled.

Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging of Carotid Plaques in an Atherosclerotic Murine Model

Successful imaging of atherosclerosis, one of the leading global causes of death, is crucial for diagnosis and intervention. Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging has been widely adopted along with multimodal/hybrid imaging systems for plaque detection. We evaluate two macrophage-targeting fluorescent tracers for NIRF imaging (TLR4-ZW800-1C and Feraheme-Alexa Fluor 750) in an atherosclerotic murine cohort, where the left carotid artery (LCA) is ligated to cause stenosis, and the right carotid artery (RCA) is used as a control. Imaging performed on dissected tissues revealed that both tracers had high uptake in the diseased vessel compared to the control, which was readily visible even at short exposure times. In addition, ZW800-1C’s renal clearance ability and Feraheme’s FDA approval puts these two tracers in line with other NIRF tracers such as ICG. Continued investigation with these tracers using intravascular NIRF imaging and larger animal models is warranted for clinical translation.

Failure Analysis of TEVG’s I: Overcoming the Initial Stages of Blood Material Interaction and Stabilization of the Immune Response

Vascular grafts (VG) are medical devices intended to replace the function of a diseased vessel. Current approaches use non-biodegradable materials that struggle to maintain patency under complex hemodynamic conditions. Even with the current advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine with the tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs), the cellular response is not yet close to mimicking the biological function of native vessels, and the understanding of the interactions between cells from the blood and the vascular wall with the material in operative conditions is much needed. These interactions change over time after the implantation of the graft. Here we aim to analyze the current knowledge in bio-molecular interactions between blood components, cells and materials that lead either to an early failure or to the stabilization of the vascular graft before the wall regeneration begins.

Pathogenesis of IgA Vasculitis: An Up-To-Date Review

Immunoglobin A (IgA) vasculitis (IgAV), formerly called the Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP), is a small vessel vasculitis, characterized by IgA1-dominant immune deposition at diseased vessel walls. IgAV is the most common form of vasculitis in children; typical symptoms include palpable purpura, arthritis or arthralgia, abdominal pain, and hematuria or proteinuria. Galactose-deficient IgA1 is detected in the tissues of the kidney and skin in patients with IgAV; it forms immune complexes leading to subsequent immune reactions and injuries. This report provides the recent advances in the understanding of environmental factors, genetics, abnormal innate and acquired immunity, and the role of galactose-deficient IgA1 immunocomplexes in the pathogenesis of IgAV.

Association of epicardial fat thickness assessed by echocardiography with the severity of coronary artery disease

Introduction : Epicardial fat thickness (EFT) can reflect risk of cardiovascular disease particularly coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of EFT assessed by echocardiography and presence as well as severity of CAD. Methods: Two hundred and twenty consecutive patients who candidate for coronary angiography because of possible CAD were studied. EFT was evaluated in standard parasternal long axis (PlAX) and parasternal short axis (PSAX) view from 3 cardiac cycles at the end of systole and diastole. The severity of CAD was defined in two ways: (1) SYNTAX score, (2) number of vessels with significant lesion. Results: PLAX (EFTS ) (EFT in systole) and PLAX (EFTd ) (EFT in diastole) were significantly higher in patients with CAD in comparison with patients without CAD (P = 0.046, P = 0.041 respectively). There was a significant correlation between PLAX (EFTS ) (P = 0.05), PLAX (EFTd ) (P = 0.04) and SYNTAX score. There was no statistically significant relationship between EFT and number of diseased vessel (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis was done for adjusting the effects of confounding factors and it showed that EFT (OR: 10.53, P = 0.004) was significantly correlated severe CAD as assessed by the SYNTAX score. Conclusion: EFT assessed by transthoracic echocardiography was higher significantly in patients with CAD than in normal patients. EFT as an easily available and cost-effective echocardiographic feature might be useful to predict complexity of CAD.

A3-A3 Bypass for Giant Anterior Cerebral Artery Aneurysm: 2-Dimensional Operative Video

Large fusiform anterior cerebral artery aneurysms often require revascularization to allow for the treatment of the aneurysm and preservation of distal perfusion. The A3-A3 side-to-side anastomosis maintains ipsilateral distal perfusion. The inflow to the fusiform segment can then be clip occluded to treat the diseased vessel segment. This procedure is illustrated by the case in this video. The patient had a large right anterior cerebral artery fusiform aneurysm. An anterior interhemispheric craniotomy with the right side down was utilized for the approach. Postprocedural angiography demonstrated occlusion of the aneurysmal segment and patent distal perfusion within the ipsilateral distal segment. The patient gave informed consent for surgery and video recording. Institutional review board approval was deemed unnecessary. Used with permission from Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona.

Introduction: History and Development of Flow Diverter Technology and Evolution

The introduction of flow diverter technology to the field of neurointervention has revolutionized the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. The therapy approach has shifted from intrasaccular aneurysm treatment to exclusion of the aneurysm from the blood circulation with remodeling of the parent artery. Previously, “difficult”-to-treat aneurysms including fusiform and blister aneurysms, but also aneurysms arising from a diseased vessel segment, can now be safely and permanently treated with flow diverters. A little over a decade ago, after extensive bench testing and refinement of the flow diverter concept, the device was eventually available for clinical use and today it has become a standard treatment for intracranial aneurysms. Currently, United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved flow diverters are the Pipeline Embolization Device (Medtronic) and the Surpass Streamline Flow Diverter (Stryker). The devices can either be delivered or deployed via a standard femoral artery approach or a radial artery approach. Other considerations for catheter setup and device deployment strategies depending on aneurysm location or vessel anatomy are described.

Surgical Management of a Ruptured Dissecting Anterior Cerebral Artery (A2) Aneurysm Utilizing Contralateral Frontopolar for Reconstruction: 2-Dimensional Operative Video

Dissecting aneurysms can pose an immense surgical challenge, and intervention often involves high risk for rerupture because of the volatile nature of the fibrin thrombus overlying the rupture site. This patient presented following rupture of a dissecting aneurysm along the A2 segment of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA). The patient underwent a right orbitozygomatic craniotomy, and the aneurysm was approached within the interhemispheric fissure. Manipulation of the aneurysm dome resulted in intraoperative rerupture of the aneurysm, which was controlled by the application of a temporary clip on the parent A2 proximally and distally. Aneurysmectomy of the thin diseased vessel wall was performed. The defect was filled by transecting the frontopolar branch of the ACA and sewing the frontopolar branch onto the aneurysmectomy defect. This provided a suitable patch for the ACA defect. Postprocedural indocyanine green angiography demonstrated patency of the A2 and the anastomosed frontopolar branch. The patient gave informed consent for surgery and video recording. Institutional review board approval was deemed unnecessary. Used with permission from Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona.

P2719The impact of “diseased only coronary artery” invasive diagnostics strategy on contrast and radiation dose in patients with coronary artery disease following coronary computed tomography angiography

Background Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) has high diagnostic accuracy in ruling out significant stenosis of coronary arteries in patients with intermediate probability of coronary artery disease. Based on CTA result, some patients are scheduled for invasive coronary angiography (ICA). As no specyfic guidelines exist for such situations, during ICA contrast media is routinely injected into both coronary arteries, irrespectively of CTA result. Conceivably, patients scheduled for ICA with one vessel disease may benefit from invasive interrogation limited to the diseased vessel only, presumably resulting in less contrast, lower radiation dose and less complications related to catheterization. Purpose The aim of this study was to analyse the potential trade-off between the benefits and costs of a “diseased-vessel-only” (>50% DS in CTA) invasive diagnostic approach in patients undergoing ICA following coronary CTA, as compared to the traditional “total ICA” (including both arteries regardless of CTA result) approach. The potential benefits were defined as contrast and radiation doses reduction during ICA and the costs were defined as missing significant coronary stenosis. Methods In 85 patients who underwent CTA and subsequently ICA we precisely measured contrast volume and radiation dose used to visualise each vessel during ICA. Then we proposed excluding a vessel (either left or right coronary artery) without >50% diameter stenosis in CTA from ICA, and studied how it would affect ICA contrast and radiation values. DS in CTA and ICA were assessed quantitatively. Results CTA sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value in diagnosing >50%DS as assessed by ICA were 95.2%, 96.2%, 91.6% and 97.9%, respectively. Applying <50% DS in CTA as a threshold not to visualise the artery during ICA would reduce contrast volume by 47% (27ml, Fig. 1) and radiation dose by 51% (3.14mSv, Fig.2, both p<0.0001). No significant (>50%DS in ICA) stenosis would be missed by CTA. Figures 1 and 2 Conclusion These real-world data support the concept that vessels with <50%DS in CTA do not need to be visualised during ICA. Such approach would result in significant reduction in contrast media volume and patient's exposure to radiation during ICA, without underdiagnosing any of the patients.

Republished: Unexpected early radiographic findings associated with a ruptured blister-like carotid wall aneurysm

A 33-year-old man presented with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage from a ruptured, blister-type sidewall internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysm. Balloon-assisted coiling was performed with residual neck. He subsequently developed severe vasospasm requiring intra-arterial therapies on multiple occasions, during which it was noted that despite widespread vasospasm, a focal segment of the ICA at the site of the aneurysm showed no significant spasm, suggesting underlying vessel abnormality. He was discharged without deficit and scheduled for flow diversion given concern over this potentially pathologic segment of vessel. At time of scheduled flow diversion 6 weeks later, a de novo unstable-appearing 6 mm stalk-like pseudoaneurysm was identified in this segment. Both aneurysms and the diseased vessel were successfully treated with Pipeline stenting, with excellent clinical and angiographic result. This case highlights the need for close angiographic follow-up when there is a heterogeneous vasospastic response in arterial segments adjacent to a ruptured aneurysm.