A 17-yr-old young woman was referred to our hospital with a 2-yr history of claudication of the lower extremities and severe arterial hypertension. Physical examination revealed significantly different blood pressures between both arms (160/92 and 180/95 mmHg) and legs (92/61 and 82/57 mmHg). The hematological and biochemical values were within their normal ranges, except for the increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (83 mm/hr) and C-reactive protein (6.19 mg/L). On 3- dimensional computed tomographic angiography, the ascending aorta, the aortic arch and its branches, and the thoracic and, descending aorta, but not the renal artery, were shown to be stenotic. The diagnosis of type IIb Takayasu's arteritis was made according to the new angiographic classification of Takayasu's arteritis, Takyasu conference 1994. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting was performed on the thoracic and abdominal aorta. After the interventional procedures, the upper extremity blood pressure improved from 162/101 mmHg to 132/85 mmHg, respectively. She has been free of claudication and there have been no cardiac events during 2-yr of clinical follow-up.
Adolescent ; Angiography ; *Angioplasty, Balloon ; Aorta, Abdominal/radiography ; *Aorta, Thoracic/radiography ; Carotid Arteries/ultrasonography ; Female ; Humans ; *Stents ; Takayasu Arteritis/radiography/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

A 21-year-old woman presented with productive cough and hemoptysis. Chest radiograph shows a large thin-walled cystic lesion with an air-fluid level in medial portion of the left lower lung zone and opacity in paravertebral area of the right lower lung zone. Chest CT scan shows a thin-walled cavitary lesion in the posterior basal segment of left lower lobe with an air-fluid level. Area of consolidation containing air-filled cysts was also observed in medial aspect of right lower lobe. Selective angiogram obtained from aberrant artery arising from descending abdominal aorta showed two main branches of the artery supplying bilateral pulmonary lesions.
Aorta, Abdominal ; Arteries ; Bronchopulmonary Sequestration* ; Cough ; Female ; Hemoptysis ; Humans ; Lung ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Acute Disease ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aorta, Abdominal ; Aortic Diseases/*etiology/radiography/therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention/*adverse effects ; Stents ; Suction ; Thrombosis/*etiology/radiography/therapy

Primary aortoenteric fistula (PAEF) is a rare but catastrophic cause of massive gastrointestinal bleeding. Diagnosis of PAEF is difficult to make and is frequently delayed without strong clinical suspicion. Timely surgical intervention is essential for patient's survival. We report on a case of an 86-year-old woman with no history of abdominal surgery, who presented with abdominal pain. Initially, computed tomography scan showed an intra-abdominal abscess, located anterior to the aortic bifurcation. However, she was discharged without treatment because of spontaneous improvement on a follow-up computed tomography scan, which showed a newly developed right common iliac artery aneurysm. One week later, she was readmitted due to recurrent abdominal pain. On the second day of admission, sudden onset of gastrointestinal bleeding occurred for the first time. After several endoscopic examinations, an aortoenteric fistula bleeding site was found in the sigmoid colon, and aortography showed progression of a right common iliac artery aneurysm. We finally concluded that intra-abdominal abscess induced an infected aortic aneurysm and enteric fistula to the sigmoid colon. This case demonstrated an extremely rare type of PAEF to the sigmoid colon caused by an infected abdominal aortic aneurysm, which has rarely been reported.
Abdominal Abscess/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aorta, Abdominal/radiography ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/*diagnosis/etiology ; Bacteroides/isolation & purification ; Bacteroides fragilis/isolation & purification ; Colon, Sigmoid/radiography ; Colonoscopy ; Enterococcus/isolation & purification ; Female ; Fistula/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Takayasu's arteritis is an arteritis of undetermined etiology, which affects the aorta, the proximal portions of its major branches, and the pulmonary arteries, and causes coarctation, occlusion, or aneurysmal dilatation of the affected vessels. Authors has reported 9 cases in 1973, and another 24 cases in 1977. Thereafter, during next 4 years, authors experienced another 42 cases and obtained some additional results. The results are as follows: 1. Among 75 cases, 10 are male and 65 female patients with sex ratio of 1:6.5, and about 2/3 of total patients are under 30 years of age. 2. Headache, dizziness, absent or weak radial pulse and hypertension are the most common symptoms and signs. 3. Conventional chest roentgenography may be helpful but not specific in diagnosis of Takayasu's arteritis. 4. The aortographic findings are characteristic and pathognomonic in diagnosis of Takayasu's arteritis. In our series, the most common findings are stenosis or occlusion of subclavian artery, diffuse narrowing and aneurysmal dilatation of abdominal aorta and its branches, narrowing with irregular contour of descending thoracic aorta, and renal artery involvement. 5. Involvement of the aorta was classified as extensive type in 38 cases, descending thoracic and abdominal type in 22 cases and arch type in 15 cases. 6. As total aortography in cluding abdominal aorta uncovers evidence of unsuspected involvement of aorta and its branches, it is of paramount importance in the diagnosis of Takayasu's arteritis.
Aneurysm ; Aorta ; Aorta, Abdominal ; Aorta, Thoracic ; Aortography ; Arteritis ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Dizziness ; Female ; Headache ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Pulmonary Artery ; Radiography ; Renal Artery ; Sex Ratio ; Subclavian Artery ; Takayasu Arteritis* ; Thorax

BACKGROUND: The composite summary score (range, 0-24) of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) devised by Kauppila et al is a simple method of assessing AAC severity. However, few studies have been conducted to determine an optimal AAC cutoff score for the prediction of mortality or to investigate the relation between mineral metabolism and AAC progression using the scoring system. METHODS: The medical records of 112 patients on hemodialysis who had undergone simple lateral lumbar radiography every 6 months from August 2009 were reviewed. Patients were followed until November 2012, and the relationship between the degree of AAC at baseline and mortality was evaluated. In addition, the relationship between the progression of AAC and serum concentrations of calcium and phosphate was evaluated in the 75 patients who were successfully followed until November 2012. RESULTS: The mean AAC score at baseline was 5.5+/-4.8, and the cutoff calcification score for the prediction of mortality was 7.75 (sensitivity=61%, specificity=81%). Patients were allocated to Group A (baseline total calcification score < or =8.0, n=85) or Group B (baseline total calcification score>8.0, n=27), and multivariate analysis showed that Group B was an independent risk factor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events. Of the 75 patients successfully followed, 51 showed AAC progression (Group 1) and 24 showed no change or improvement (Group 2). Group 1 was found to have significantly higher mean serum corrected calcium levels during the 2nd year and 3rd year of follow-up than Group 2. Furthermore, repeated-measures analysis of variance showed higher monthly corrected calcium concentrations (P=0.099) and mean corrected calcium levels during the 1st year, 2nd year, and 3rd year of follow-up (P=0.062) in Group 1, but without statistical significance. The cutoff values of mean corrected calcium of the 2nd year and 3rd year for the prediction of AAC progression during follow-up years were 8.96mg/dL and 9.45mg/dL, respectively. Serum phosphate levels and corrected calciumxphosphate values were similar in Groups 1 and 2. CONCLUSION: Patients with an AAC score of>8 at baseline seem to be at higher risk of mortality during follow-up. Of the serum variables examined, such as corrected calcium, phosphate, and corrected calciumxphosphate, corrected calcium was found to be marginally associated with AAC progression. However, a larger-scale prospective study is required to confirm our findings.
Aorta, Abdominal ; Calcium* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Medical Records ; Metabolism ; Mortality* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Radiography ; Renal Dialysis* ; Risk Factors ; Vascular Calcification

Fenestrated endovascular repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm has been developed to treat patients with a short or complicated aneurysm neck. Fenestration involves creating an opening in the graft fabric to accommodate the orifice of the vessel that is targeted for preservation. Fixation of the fenestration to the renal arteries and the other visceral arteries can be done by implanting bare or covered stents across the graft-artery ostia interfaces so that a portion of the stent protrudes into the aortic lumen. Accurate alignment of the targeted vessels in a longitudinal aspect is hard to achieve during stent deployment because rotation of the stent graft may take place during delivery from the sheath. Understanding the 3D relationship of the aortic branches and the fenestrated vessel stents following fenestration will aid endovascular specialists to evaluate how the stent graft is situated within the aorta after placement of fenestrations. The aim of this article is to provide the 2D and 3D imaging appearances of the fenestrated endovascular grafts that were implanted in a group of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms, based on the multislice CT angiography. The potential applications of each visualization technique were explored and compared with the 2D axial images.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aorta, Abdominal/radiography ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/*radiography/*surgery ; *Blood Vessel Prosthesis ; Contrast Media/administration & dosage ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional/*methods ; Iohexol/administration & dosage/analogs & derivatives ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prosthesis Design ; Radiographic Image Enhancement/methods ; *Stents ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods

The authors dissected and examined a horseshoe kidney from the cadaver of a 54-year-old Korean female. The results were as follows. Other congenital anomalies or complications were not found, and no renal stones showed on plain radiography of the horseshoe kidney. The horseshoe kidney was located in the area between the 12 th thoracic vertebra and the 4th lumbar vertebra, with the superior extremity of the left kidney 10mm more inferior than that of the right. The isthmus connecting the bilateral kidneys was located at the level of the 3rd lumbar vertebra. The size of the kidney was 102mm × 52mm × 44mm (right) and 108mm × 62mm × 34mm (left), and the superoinferior and anteroposterior lengths of isthmus were 22mm and 10mm, respectively. The abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava passed posteriorly to the isthmus, with the inferior mesenteric artery and lumbar splanchnic nerve passing anteriorly. Some grooves were found on the anterior surface of the bilateral kidney. The hilum of the right kidney faced the anteromedial direction and that of the left kidney faced the anterolateral direction. At the hilar plane, the right renal arteries and veins passed anteriorly and posteriorly to the renal pelvis ; the left renal arteries passed posteriorly to the renal pelvis, with the left renal veins passing anteriorly and posteriorly. Three branches of the right renal arteries passed renal hilum, while two branches did not, and two branches of the left renal arteries passed renal hilum, while six branches did not. The two arteries arising from the aortic bifurcation were distributed to the isthmus. The number of renal veins passing the renal hilum were three in the right, and two in the left. The right and left ovarian veins drained to the renal veins. There were 12 minor calyces distributed normally in the right kidney, 13 minor calyces distributed radially in the left kidney, and 3 minor calyces in the isthmus, composed of parenchyme. The left portion of the horseshoe kidney was concluded to have developed poorly, on the basis of incomplete ascension and abnormal rotation during development, the imperfect configuration of the renal shape, and the abnormal distribution of the renal vessels and renal calyces.
Aorta, Abdominal ; Arteries ; Cadaver ; Extremities ; Female ; Fused Kidney* ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Pelvis ; Mesenteric Artery, Inferior ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Renal Artery ; Renal Veins ; Spine ; Splanchnic Nerves ; Veins ; Vena Cava, Inferior

Aneurysm, Infected ; etiology ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Aorta, Abdominal ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Psoas Abscess ; etiology ; microbiology ; physiopathology ; Psoas Muscles ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Radiography ; Salmonella ; isolation & purification ; Salmonella Infections ; complications