Diagnosis and management of type 2 endoleaks after endovascular aneurysm repair

Endovascular repair is a major treatment advance in patients with large infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. Since the FDA approved two commercial devices 2.5 years ago, over 40,000 patients have undergone this procedure in the United States. Although we have learned a great deal, more than a few mysteries relating to the long-term performance of these devices remain. This results in never-ending surveillance protocols searching for graft failure and aneurysm expansion. One of the especially contentious issues is the management of type 2 endoleaks. Unlike other endoleaks that are related to problems with the graft and/or fixation, this type of leak occurs in patients with properly functioning devices. This is why so much controversy exists about whether or not these patients must be treated. Some advocate “watchful-waiting” intervention only when there is aneurysm expansion.¹ Others routinely treat patients with type 2 endoleaks in an attempt to prevent expansion.^2–4 As with most controversial topics, if you look carefully, there is more agreement than disagreement between the two groups. In this review, we will first describe the methods used for endoleak diagnosis and treatment. We will then review our current endoleak treatment algorithm and explain its rationale for use.     

Long-term outcome of equestrian injuries in children

Purpose:?To investigate the possible development of long-term disabilities arising from paediatric equestrian injuries.

Method:?All patients, aged 17 years or younger, treated in a hospital setting because of an equestrian injury during a five-year period received a questionnaire. A reference population and healthy friends served as controls.

Results:?Four years post-injury, 41 of the 100 respondents still experienced disabilities following the injury. The median Injury Severity Score was 4. Absenteeism from school lasted 2 weeks, and from horse riding, 4 months. Compared to the reference population, the results of the Child Health Questionnaire were poorer considering most of its subscales. In comparison with the friends, the patients only scored lower on ‘physical functioning’. The risk factors concerning poor long-term outcomes were being an advanced rider, sustaining injuries other than fractures of the extremities or sustaining subsequent injuries following the riding accident.

Conclusions:?Although equestrian injuries in children are minor to moderate in their severity, these injuries are significant considering that a large proportion of patients experience long-term disabilities.     

Issues for selection of outcome measures in stroke rehabilitation: ICF Participation

Purpose.?To evaluate the psychometric and administrative properties of outcome measures in the ICF Participation category, which are used in stroke rehabilitation research and reported in the published literature.

Method.?Critical review and synthesis of measurement properties for six commonly reported instruments in the stroke rehabilitation literature. Each instrument was rated using the eight evaluation criteria proposed by the UK Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme. The instruments were also assessed for the rigour with which their reliability, validity and responsiveness were reported in the published literature.

Results.?Validity has been well reported for at least half of the measures reviewed. However, methods for reporting specific measurement qualities of outcome instruments were inconsistent. Responsiveness of measures has not been well documented. Of the three ICF categories, Participation seems to be most problematic with respect to: (a) lack of consensus on the range of domains required for measurement in stroke; (b) much greater emphasis on health-related quality of life, relative to subjective quality of life in general; (c) the inclusion of a mixture of measurements from all three ICF categories.

Conclusions.?The reader is encouraged to examine carefully the nature and scope of outcome measurement used in reporting the strength of evidence for improved participation associated with stroke rehabilitation. There is no consensus regarding the most important indicators of successful involvement in a life situation and which ones best represent the societal perspective of functioning. In particular, quality of life outcomes lack adequate conceptual frameworks to guide the process of development and validation of measures.     

The changing face of gastroschisis and omphalocele in southeast Georgia

Objective: To document trends in the clinical characteristics of gastroschisis and omphalocele in southeast Georgia, USA, from 1994 to 2002.

Methods: All babies with an abdominal wall defect in a 19-county region were referred to one Perinatal Center for genetic counseling, level II ultrasound scans, pregnancy follow-up and delivery. Karyotyping was offered for omphalocele, advanced maternal age, family history predisposing to aneuploidy, and gastroschisis with an additional anomaly.

Results: There were 64 patients, 34 with gastroschisis and 30 with omphalocele. From 1994 to 2002, the birth prevalence of gastroschisis was 1:3600 and omphalocele 1:3400, but from 2000 to 2002, gastroschisis increased to 1:1667, while omphalocele increased to only 1:2709. Gender distribution was different: for gastroschisis the M:F ratio was 1:2.1; for omphalocele the ratio was 1.7:1. In the patients with omphalocele, 90% had an amniocentesis and 9/27 were aneuploid: five had trisomy 18, three had trisomy 13 and one had trisomy 21. Seventy-six per cent of the patients with omphalocele had associated anomalies, but only 17.6% of those with gastroschisis. Mothers whose babies had gastroschisis showed a trend to progressively younger age, while no such trend was observed among mothers whose babies had omphalocele.

Conclusion: The birth prevalence of abdominal wall defects in general is increasing, but more notably for gastroschisis. Maternal age continues to decrease for gastroschisis. In the study population, gender distribution showed a statistically significant variation between the defects.     

Clinical utility of fluoride-18 positron emission tomography/CT in temporomandibular disorder with osteoarthritis: comparisons with 99mTc-MDP bone scan

Objectives:

The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical utility of fluoride-18 positron emission tomography (¹⁸F-PET)/CT with that of conventional ^99mTc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) bone scan in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) with osteoarthritis.

Methods:

24 patients with TMD who underwent both ¹⁸F-PET/CT and ^99mTc-MDP bone scans for diagnostic work-up were enrolled. The temporomandibular joint (TMJ)-to-skull uptake ratio, TMJ-to-muscle uptake ratio and TMJ-to-spine uptake ratio on ¹⁸F-PET/CT and the TMJ uptake ratio on bone scan were measured.

Results:

Of the 48 TMJs in 24 patients, 35 TMJs were diagnosed as TMD with osteoarthritis, 8 TMJs as TMD with anterior disc displacement (ADD), and the remaining 5 TMJs showed no evidence of TMD (NED). All three uptake ratios on ¹⁸F-PET/CT and the TMJ uptake ratio on the bone scan tended to be higher in TMD with osteoarthritis than in TMD with ADD or NED. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for detecting TMD with osteoarthritis indicated that the TMJ-to-skull uptake ratio, TMJ-to-muscle uptake ratio and TMJ-to-spine uptake ratio on PET/CT (0.819, 0.771 and 0.813, respectively) showed higher area under the ROC curve value than the TMJ ratio on bone scan (0.714). The TMJ-to-skull uptake ratio on PET/CT showed the highest sensitivity (89%) and accuracy (81%) of all uptake ratios.

Conclusions:

¹⁸F-PET/CT can help diagnose TMD with osteoarthritis with superior diagnostic ability and is a suitable alternative modality to a conventional ^99mTc-MDP bone scan.     

Mesenchymal hamartoma of the chest wall in infants: Report of three cases and literature review

Mesenchymal hamartoma of the chest wall in infants is a rare abnormality. We present a report of three cases and a brief review of the literature, emphasizing the role of the radiologist in diagnosis and management.     

Combined sterno-clavicular approach as an alternative technique in hybrid exclusion of aortic arch aneurysm

Background  

We describe a modified access technique for the proximal (open) part of single stage hybrid exclusion of aneurysm of the aortic arch.     

Treatment of type 2 endoleaks after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms: comparison of transarterial and translumbar techniques.

OBJECTIVE: The exact significance of collateral endoleaks is unknown and a topic of great debate. Because of this uncertainty, some physicians choose to watch and wait while others aggressively treat these leaks. The purpose of this investigation was the evaluation of the efficacy of the two techniques used in the treatment of collateral endoleaks that occur after endovascular aneurysm repair. METHODS: Patients with 33 angiographically proven type 2 endoleaks underwent treatment with either transarterial inferior mesenteric artery embolization (n = 20) or direct translumbar embolization (n = 13) during an 18-month period. Embolization success was defined as resolution of endoleak on all subsequent computed tomography angiogram results. The likelihood of embolization failure between the two treatments was expressed as a risk ratio and was compared with Fisher exact test. RESULTS: Sixteen of 20 transarterial inferior mesenteric artery embolizations (80%) failed with recanalization of the original endoleak cavity over time. A single failure (8%) in the direct translumbar embolization group occurred in a patient in whom a new attachment site leak developed. The remaining 12 translumbar endoleak embolizations (92%) were successful and durable, with a median follow-up period of 254 days. The patients who underwent transarterial inferior mesenteric artery embolization were significantly more likely to have persistent endoleak than were the patients who underwent treatment with direct translumbar embolization (risk ratio, 4.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.9 to 11.2; P =.0001). CONCLUSION: The transarterial embolization of inferior mesenteric arteries for the repair of type 2 endoleaks is ineffective and should not be performed. Direct translumbar embolization of the endoleak is effective in the elimination of type 2 leaks and should be the therapy of choice when aggressive endoleak management is indicated.