True profunda femoris aneurysms: Are they more dangerous than other atherosclerotic aneurysms of the femoropopliteal segment?

Three cases of true aneurysms of the profunda femoris artery are reported along with a review of 17 other cases in the literature. These aneurysms are rare and commonly present with rapid enlargement or rupture (9/20), the risk of rupture being higher than those affecting the femoral or popliteal arteries. All patients underwent successful surgical treatment except for one who required amputation. The diagnosis of an aneurysm of the profunda femoris artery must be considered in all patients with a pulsatile swelling in the groin. Surgical treatment is mandatory, and it carries a low mortality as well as a low risk of amputation.     

Acute arterial insufficiency of the male genitalia

Three patients developed severe ischemia of the penis or scrotum from acute arterial occlusion. In one case, nonhealing ulceration of the glans developed after atheroembolism to the dorsal penile artery. One patient had penile ischemia after ligation of pelvic and femoral collateral circulation during repair of an aorto-bilateral-iliac artery aneurysm. A third patient had ischemia of the penis and scrotum from thromboembolism to the iliac arteries during repair of an aortoenteric fistula. Only seven patients have been described with acute arterial occlusion and severe ischemia of the male genitalia. A rare phenomenon because of rich collateral circulation, acute ischemia of the genitalia nevertheless must be recognized as a sign of severe vascular disease and a consequence of major arterial ligation or occlusion in the pelvis and groins.     

Spontaneous dissecting aneurysm of the common iliac artery

A 52-year-old man sought medical advice for sudden onset of intermittent claudication of the left lower limb after 50 meters walking. Aortography documented a dissecting aneurysm limited to the left common iliac artery. After resection, a prosthetic graft was inserted. Pathology showed that the cause of the dissection was atheroma. Spontaneous dissecting aneurysm of the common iliac artery is rare. Rupture represents the principal hazard. A high index of suspicion should lead to diagnosis as soon as signs of lower limb ischemia, occasionally transient, appear.     

Complications of anomalous origin of the right subclavian artery: Case report and review of the literature

A 35-year-old black woman presented with thrombosis of an anomalous right subciavian artery and distal arterial embolization. Initially, her right subclavian artery was reimplanted onto the common carotid artery, and a brachial artery embolectomy plus intraoperative thrombolytic therapy were used to reopen her distal arterial circulation. When her brachial artery repair thrombosed the following day, a distal ulnar artery bypass and repeat thrombolytic therapy were required to restore arterial patency. Six months later, she returned with severe, progressive, neointimal hyperplasia of her brachial artery and a second attempt at arterial reconstruction was unsuccessful. She eventually required a right below-elbow amputation. This patient demonstrated an anomalous right subclavian artery that presented with distal embolization without an antecedent history of severe atherosclerotic disease or the development of a right subclavian artery aneurysm. A review of the medical literature relating to complications of this anomaly is provided.     

Medial fibrodysplasia and aneurysm of the popliteal artery

Fibromuscular dysplasia of the popliteal artery is rare. We report a case in a 20-year-old man complicated by aneurysm revealed by recurrent synovial effusion of the right knee. Diagnosis was based on pathology reports which showed severe destruction in the media. Two other cases with histopathological documentation were found in the literature.     

Carotid surgery without arteriography: Noninvasive selection of patients

All carotid noninvasive studies at our institution comprised of duplex scanning, spectral frequency analysis, and ocular-pneumoplethysmography-Gee supraorbital Doppler assessments from 1985–1987 were reviewed. Forty symptomatic and 104 asymptomatic internal carotid arteries, concomitantly studied noninvasively and arteriographically, were identified. All studies were rereviewed prospectively and in blinded fashion. Utilizing peak frequency—internal carotid artery >10 mHz and carotid index (Pf-ICA)/PF-common carotid) >5 as criteria for surgery, 39/40 symptomatic internal carotid arteries were considered appropriate for carotid endarterectomy by noninvasive study. All of these internal carotid arteries had arteriographic confirmation of >50% internal carotid artery stenosis; 22 of them met noninvasive criteria for surgery of peak systolic frequency-internal carotid artery 14 mHz, carotid index >7 and abnormal ocular-pneumoplethysmography-Gee supraorbital Doppler. All of these had arteriographic confirmation of >80% internal carotid artery stenosis. Eleven asymptomatic internal carotid arteries met spectral frequency criteria for carotid endarterectomy but had normal ocular-pneumoplethysomgraphy-Gee/supraorbital Doppler. Eight in this group had <80% stenosis on arteriographic exam. Carotid endarterectomy may be performed without prior arteriography, provided objective criteria are established in a reliable noninvasive lab and met by individual patients. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Vascular Society, Southhampton, Bermuda, May 5, 1989.     

Innominate artery involvement in type iv Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

We report two cases of innominate artery involvement in patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. In the first patient, spontaneous dissection of the innominate artery was treated successfully. In the other, the patient died of spontaneous rupture of the innominate artery in the early postoperative course after operation for aneurysm of the celiac artery. Arterial complications occurring in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are rare but pose difficult diagnostic and therapeutic problems for the vascular surgeon due to arterial wall fragility.Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Société de Chirurgie Vasculaire de Langue Française, May 18–19, 1990, Nancy, France.     

Celiac artery aneurysm

Aneurysms of the celiac artery are unusual lesions and account for only 4% of all splanchnic aneurysms. In recent years, the incidence has been noted to rise because of the increased use of sonography, computerized tomography, and arteriography. Although patients are often asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, the risk of rupture is high; therefore, surgical resection should be undertaken in acceptable candidates. We report the case of a large celiac artery aneurysm treated with distal pancreatectomy and celiac artery aneurysmectomy.Presented at the meeting of the Mid-Western Vascular Society, Toledo, Ohio, September 14–15, 1990.     

Transfemoral intraluminal graft implantation for abdominal aortic aneurysms

This study reports on animal experimentation and initial clinical trials exploring the feasibility of exclusion of an abdominal aortic aneurysm by placement of an intraluminal, stent-anchored, Dacron prosthetic graft using retrograde cannulation of the common femoral artery under local or regional anesthesia. Experiments showed that when a balloon-expandable stent was sutured to the partially overlapping ends of a tubular, knitted Dacron graft, friction seals were created which fixed the ends of the graft to the vessel wall. This excludes the aneurysm from circulation and allows normal flow through the graft lumen. Initial treatment in five patients with serious co-morbidities is described. Each patient had an individually tailored balloon diameter and diameter and length of their Dacron graft. Standard stents were used and the diameter of the stent-graft was determined by sonography, computed tomography, and arteriography. In three of them a cephalic stent was used without a distal stent. In two other patients both ends of the Dacron tubular stent were attached to stents using a one-third stent overlap. In these latter two, once the proximal neck of the aneurysm was reached, the sheath was withdrawn and the cephalic balloon inflated with a saline/contrast solution. The catheter was gently removed caudally towards the arterial entry site in the groin to keep tension on the graft, and the second balloon inflated so as to deploy the second stent. Four of the five patients had heparin reversal at the end of the procedure. We are encouraged by this early experience, but believe that further developments and more clinical trials are needed before this technique becomes widely used.     

Ligation of symptomatic celiac artery aneurysm without vascular reconstruction: Utilizing the natural collateral circulation of the celiac axis: A case report

IntroductionCeliac artery aneurysm is very rare visceral artery aneurysm. Symptomatic and ≥ 2.5 cm sized aneurysm requires treatment. Excision and revascularization is the most commonly employed procedure.Case presentationWe report a case of ligation and excision of celiac artery aneurysm extending onto the splenic and hepatic arteries without vascular reconstruction. The patient was a 52 year old lady who was evaluated for abdominal pain and was found to have a celiac artery aneurysm involving the hepatic and splenic arteries. She was evaluated with computerized tomography and digital subtraction angiography of the abdominal vessels. These confirmed good natural collaterals from the branches of superior mesenteric artery supplying the liver, stomach and spleen. We performed ligation and excision of the aneurysm and ligation and division of hepatic, splenic and left gastric arteries as the aneurysm was extending on to these vessels, without any vascular reconstruction, utilizing the natural collaterals from the superior mesenteric artery.DiscussionLigation of celiac artery aneurysm without revascularization is often done in emergency situations. Excision and revascularization is the treatment of choice to ensure adequate blood supply to liver, spleen and stomach. We could utilize the natural collateral circulation of celiac artery from superior mesenteric artery avoiding a complex procedure of revascularization.ConclusionWe present this because of the rarity of the disease as well as rarity of the technique of not performing vascular reconstruction. We emphasize on the pre-operative and operative evaluation of collateral circulation with conventional angiography and intraoperative Doppler respectively.     

Pre- and intraoperative transcranial doppler: Prediction and surveillance of tolerance to carotid clamping

We report 91 patients (mean age 70 years) operated upon, prospectively for a total of 100 carotid revascularizations (nine bilateral). Eighty-five of these patients had pre-, intra-, and postoperative transcranial Doppler investigations. Preoperatively, these 85 patients (92 procedures) were classified into two groups based on the results of their Doppler examinations: Group A (65 patients, 72 procedures), those who did not require an intraoperative indwelling shunt and Group B (20 patients, 20 procedures), those who did. The shunt was inserted only when the mean stump (back) pressure was less than 50 mmHg after cross-clamping. Group A all had satisfactory collaterality with a functional anterior and one or two posterior communicating arteries. Group B had no communicating arteries (anterior or posterior) identified by transcranial Doppler. In 17 of 20 patients in this group, the stump pressure was less than 50 mmHg and a shunt was placed. The overall prediction based on Doppler examination of whether or not patients would need a shunt during operation for the two groups A and B (i.e., 92 procedures) was correct in 95.6% (88/92) of cases. Moreover, six hemodynamically significant stenoses (four in the cavernous portion, two in the middle cerebral artery) were disclosed. Sensitivity and specificity of transcranial Doppler as correlated with arteriographic findings were 70 and 90%. Preoperative transcranial Doppler can measure the velocities of the principal cerebral arteries and the collateral capacity of the circle of Willis, and can forecast tolerance to carotid cross-clamping. Intraoperatively, the velocity of flow in the middle carotid artery was correlated with stump pressure, which allowed for surveillance of the shunt.Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Société de Chirurgie Vasculaire de Langue Française, May 18–19, 1990, Nancy, France.     

Vertebral artery reconstruction: Results in 106 patients

Between January 1982 and December 1989, we performed 109 revascularizations of the vertebral artery in 106 patients. Eighty-six patients (81%) had isolated vertebrobasilar insufficiency, 18 (17%) had associated carotid and vertebrobasilar pathology while two (2%) had isolated carotid symptoms. The procedures performed included 98 revascularizations of the proximal vertebral artery and 11 reconstructions of the distal vertebral artery. One distal revascularization was required after early failure of proximal revascularization. In 36 cases (34%), a concomitant ipsilateral carotid artery revascularization procedure was performed, and in one case, an ipsilateral subclavian artery aneurysm was excised. Two patients (1.9%) died post-operatively and five patients (4.7%) had nonfatal neurologic complications. Four of these seven complications occurred after combined vertebral and carotid surgery. One hundred early follow-up arteriograms were obtained (92% of reconstructions). There were four occlusions, two of which were associated with neurologic deficits. Three patients were lost to follow-up. Mean follow-up was 48 months (4–100 months). Seven patients died in the late follow-up period (after one month). Actuarial five year survival was 91%. Overall patency at five years was 96%. The study of late neurologic events showed that 63% of patients had complete recovery, 30% improvement, and 7%, failure or aggravation of symptoms.Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Société de Chirurgie Vasculaire de Langue Française, May 18–19, 1990, Nancy, France.     

Aneurysmectomy and revascularization of a large hepatic artery aneurysm

Aneurysms of the hepatic artery are rare, but are associated with significant mortality because of their lack of symptoms at presentation and risk of rupture. We report a case of an enlarging 4-cm hepatic artery aneurysm involving the proximal common hepatic artery to the bifurcation of the right and left hepatic arteries which was found incidentally on ultrasound examination. Endovascular treatment with a stent was considered, but because of the location of the aneurysm as well as the presence of significant thrombosis involving the right and left hepatic arteries, aneurysmectomy and revascularization using saphenous vein was performed. Doppler ultrasound measurements demonstrated good flow through the graft postoperatively and at 1-month follow-up. Although a variety of endovascular techniques exist to treat hepatic artery aneurysms, our results indicate that open excision and revascularization may be required and can have a good outcome.     

Aneurysm of the Gastroduodenal Artery Associated with Absence of the Celiac Axis: Report of a Case

A 65-year-old woman was referred to us for treatment of an aneurysm, found incidentally by abdominal ultrasonography. Angiography demonstrated a saccular aneurysm of the gastroduodenal artery and absence of blood flow from the celiac axis. The blood flow in the hepatic artery, splenic artery, and other arteries originating from the celiac axis was supplied by the superior mesenteric artery through one dilated and elongated pancreaticoduodenal artery and the gastroduodenal artery. The aneurysm was resected, and the inflow and outflow arteries were reconstructed with end-to-end anastomoses. Pathologic examination of the aneurysm sac showed diffuse intimal thickening with focal atheromas. We speculate that the increased blood flow compensating for the absence of blood flow from the celiac axis was an etiologic factor predisposing to the formation of this gastroduodenal artery aneurysm.     

The peripheral vascular consequences of smoking

Cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk and extent of advanced atherosclerotic vascular disease in peripheral as well as coronary arteries. The likelihood of claudication, amputation, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and failure of vascular reconstruction is higher in smokers than nonsmokers. Smoking exerts its deleterious effects through many interactive mechanisms. Nicotine and carbon monoxide produce acute cardiovascular consequences, including altered myocardial performance, tachycardia, hypertension, and vasoconstriction. Smoking injures blood vessel walls by damaging endothelial cells, thus increasing permeability to lipids and other blood components. Among metabolic and biochemical changes induced by smoking are elevated plasma, free fatty acids, elevated vasopressin, and a thrombogenic balance of prostacyclin and thromboxane A ₂.Chronic smoking is associated with a tendency for increased serum cholesterol, reduced high density lipoprotein, and other lipid effects that contribute to atherosclerosis. In addition to rheologic and hematologic changes from increased erythrocytes, leukocytes, and fibrinogen, smokers have alterations in platelet aggregation and survival that produce thrombosis. Considering the ubiquitous repercussions of this menace, vascular surgeons should play an active role in motivating their patients to quit smoking.     

The role of inflammation in nonspecific abdominal aortic aneurysm disease

The predominant pathologic feature of abdominal aortic aneurysm is elastin destruction, and elastin destruction may be mediated by inflammation. In this investigation serial sections of abdominal aortic aneurysm specimens were selectively stained to study the relationship between inflammation and elastin degradation. In addition, soluble aortic extracts were examined for the presence of immunoglobulins. An inflammatory infiltrate was present in 8 of 10 of the abdominal aortic aneurysm specimens examined. The infiltrate was mononuclear, commonly located at the junction of the media and adventitia; it did not codistribute with loss of elastin. The presence of an inflammatory component in abdominal aortic aneurysm was associated with a large amount of immunoglobulin in soluble extracts from aneurysmal tissue compared to atherosclerotic and normal control extracts. This study further characterizes the microscopic pathology of abdominal aortic aneurysm and describes the presence of immunoglobulin in soluble tissue extracts. In addition, the possible role of inflammation in abdominal aortic aneurysm as it relates to protease expression is detailed. Presented in part at the meeting of the New England Vascular Society, September 21–22, 1989, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.     

Hepatic Artery Aneurysm

Hepatic artery aneurysms are rare. It is also very uncommon to diagnose a hepatic artery aneurysm prior to rupture. We report a 53-year-old woman who presented with symptoms of gallstones, and was later diagnosed as having hepatic artery aneurysm. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography showed two cystic lesions located at the hepatoduodenal ligament. Color Doppler and arteriography identified two aneurysms situated at the common hepatic artery and at the bifurcation of gastroduodenal artery, respectively. A saphenous vein graft was interposed between the origin of the common hepatic artery and the bifurcation of the right and left hepatic arteries. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the seventh postoperative day.     

Hepatic artery aneurysm in a child

The present report refers to a child hospitalized because of nonspecific symptomatology, who was found to have aneurysms of both hepatic arteries. A year after simple proximal ligature of both hepatic arteries, the child remains symptom-free and developing normally. Proximal ligation appears to be a simple and effective technique for treating hepatic artery aneurysm in children in preference to direct approach of the vascular pathology.     

Aortoiliac surgery and kidney transplantation

Between January 1980 and December 1989, we performed 407 renal transplantations. Twelve of these patients (3%) underwent aortoiliac reconstruction before (Group I, two patients), concomitant to (Group II, five patients) or after (Group III, five patients) renal transplantation. The aortoiliac lesions treated included four aneurysms and seven occlusions of the abdominal aorta and one postarteriography dissection of the iliac artery. A prosthetic graft was inserted in nine cases (75%). Endarterectomy was performed in the three other cases (25%). Four of five patients in Group III were operated on without any particular protection for the transplant. There were no postoperative deaths in Groups I and III. In Group II, one patient died of infection secondary to a urinary tract fistula. Early and late vascular morbidity (renal artery stenosis, occlusion of aortoiliac reconstruction, anastomotic false aneurysm) occurred with equal frequency in the three groups. Renal transplantation in patients having already undergone aortoiliac surgery and, conversely, aortoiliac reconstruction in the renal transplant patient, are possible without any particular technical precautions with minimal mortality and kidney morbidity. Simultaneous renal transplantation and aortoiliac reconstruction carries a significant risk of infection and a two-stage procedure should be considered in this situation.Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Société de Chirurgie Vasculaire de Langue Française, May 18–19, 1990, Nancy, France.     

Hemobilia in a patient with multiple intrahepatic,hepatic artery aneurysms

Hemobilia is a rare form of upper gastrointestinal system (GIS) bleeding. Rupture of the hepatic artery aneurysm into the biliary tract is also an uncommon cause of hemobilia. We report a case of hemobilia, secondary to rupture of one of multiple aneurysms of both right and left hepatic arteries. It was treated by hepatic artery ligation.