OBJECTIVETo assess the clinical efficacy of retrograde puncture subintimal angioplasty (SIA) for treatment of occlusive diseases in the long segment of the infrapopliteal artery.

METHODSThe clinical data of 50 patients with occlusive diseases in the long segment of the infrapopliteal artery were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into control group (n=25) and study group (n=25) and received antegrade SIA and retrograde puncture SIA with long balloon after the failed antegrade SIA, respectively. The ankle brachial index (ABI) and the temperature of the infrapopliteal skin before and after the operation were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThe technical success rate was 100% in the 50 patients, who showed obviously improved ischemic symptoms without serious complications. The ABI of the study group increased from 0.31 ± 0.12 before the treatment to 0.47 ± 0.09 at 24 h, 0.56 ± 0.06 at 1 week, 0.63 ± 0.07 at 3 months, 0.58 ± 0.06 at 6 months, and 0.49 ± 0.03 at 12 months after the treatment, and the skin temperature increased from 28.13 ± 2.45 before the operation to 33.87 ± 1.24, 34.16 ± 0.44, 34.19 ± 0.25, 32.45 ± 0.25, and 31.05 ± 0.21 at the corresponding time points after the treatment, respectively, showing significant improvements after the operation (P<0.05). ABI, skin temperature and the patency rate were similar between the two groups at each of the postoperative time points (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONRetrograde puncture SIA is safe and effective for treatment of arteriosclerosis obliterans in the infrapopliteal arteries with a high clinical success rate and a low complication rate after the failure of antegrade SIA.

Angioplasty ; Ankle Brachial Index ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; surgery ; Femoral Artery ; pathology ; Humans ; Popliteal Artery ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUNDEndovascular therapy is a treatment option for localized occlusion of the subclavian artery. In this report the long-term experience with 59 patients is presented.

METHODSBetween June 1998 and September 2008, we used endovascular therapy to treat 61 subclavian arterial obstructive lesions in 59 patients (46 males and 13 females, 34 - 82 years of age with a mean age (61.9 + or - 11.0) years). Twenty patients (34%) had clinical symptoms due to vertebrobasilar insufficiency, 26 (44%) had disabling arm ischemia, and 13 (22%) had both symptoms. We performed all procedures under local anesthesia. The approaches were from the femoral artery (n = 47), brachial artery (n = 1, involving bilateral subclavian disease) or both (n = 11). Sixty stents were implanted. All patients were followed-up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-procedure, and annually thereafter.

RESULTSWe achieved technical success in 58 (95.1%) arteries, all of which were stented. There were three technical failures; two were due to the inability to cross over an occlusion, necessitating the switch to an axillo-axillary bypass, and the third was due to shock after digital subtraction angiography and prior to stenting. Arterial stenosis pre- and post-stenting was (83.6 + or - 10.8)% and (2.5 + or - 12.5)% (P < 0.01). Clinical success was achieved in 55 of the 59 patients (93.4%). Of the four clinical failures, three were technical and the remaining patient had a stent thrombosis. Systolic blood pressure difference between the two brachial arteries was (44.7 + or - 18.5) vs. (2.2 + or - 3.9) mmHg (P < 0.01). Primary patency was 98% at 12 months, 93% at 24 months, and 82% at 5 years. Five patients were lost to follow-up by 12 months post-stenting. Significant recurrent obstruction developed in five patients with resumption of clinical symptoms. The overall survival rate was 98.2% at 12 months, 89.5% at 24 months, and 84.5% at 5 years.

CONCLUSIONSEndovascular therapy for proximal subclavian arterial obstructive lesions is effective and successful. This minimally invasive treatment may be the first choice of treatment for proximal subclavical arterial obstructive lesions.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; pathology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stents ; Subclavian Artery ; pathology ; Subclavian Steal Syndrome ; pathology ; therapy ; Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency ; pathology ; therapy

Two cases of primary intimal fibroplasia of the renal artery with renovascular hypertension are described. Case 1 was 27 year old female who was incidentally found to have blood pressure of 210/130 mmHg on routine physical examination. Renal arteriogram revealed tubular narrowing of the mid protion of the left renal artery. Both patients showed lateralization in renin activity at the involved side renal vein. Case 2 was a 10 year old girl who was first noted to have a hypertension of 180/120mmHg after a sudden attack of seizure, vomiting and altered consciousness. Renal arteriogram showed concentric narrowing of the proximal half of the right renal artery. Histopathologic examination of the affected arterial segments from both cases showed essentially same findings, i,e., diffuse fibrous thickening of the intima occluding the lumen, focal fragmentation, duplication and disappearance of the internal elastic membranes. There were no deposit of lipid and inflammatory cells. The media and adventitia remained intact. The blood pressure of both patients became normal, after the surgery and the patients are in good health up to this time.
Adult ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases/*pathology ; Child ; Female ; Fibromuscular Dysplasia/complications/epidemiology/*pathology ; Humans ; Hypertension, Renovascular/*etiology/surgery ; Korea/epidemiology ; Renal Artery/*pathology/surgery

BACKGROUNDThe ankle brachial index (ABI) is a simple, inexpensive, noninvasive tool that correlates well with angiographic disease severity and functional symptoms. The aim of this study was to identify the manifestation of lower extremity atherosclerotic lesions in patients with high ABI by retrospective clinical study.

METHODSA cohort of 184 diabetic patients, (63 +/- 14) years old, 144 males, who underwent simultaneously ABI testing and low extremity arterial duplex ultrasound within one week, were enrolled randomly into this study. According to the ABI value, they were divided into three groups: the high, normal and low ABI groups. The severity and location of atherosclerotic lesions in the lower extremity were determined based on the results of low extremity artery duplex ultrasound. The chi-square test was used to compare the atherosclerosis severity grade and lesion location across the three groups.

RESULTSThe prevalence of low extremity artery occlusion was significantly lower in the high ABI group than in the low ABI group (3.3% vs. 63.5%, P < 0.01), and the main atherosclerotic lesions were diffuse dot-like hyperechogenicity spots or small plaques (86.7%). In addition, the atherosclerotic lesions were mostly found in the distal segment of the lower extremity in patients with high ABI (46.3%).

CONCLUSIONA high ABI may be an integrative marker for intimal and medial calcification, which has a high positive predictive value for artery calcification.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Ankle Brachial Index ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; diagnosis ; Atherosclerosis ; diagnosis ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peripheral Vascular Diseases ; diagnosis

Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; diagnosis ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; diagnosis ; Carotid Artery, Internal ; pathology ; Carotid Artery, Internal, Dissection ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

Adult ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; diagnosis ; Constriction, Pathologic ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Martial Arts ; Muscle, Skeletal ; pathology ; Pain ; diagnosis ; Peripheral Vascular Diseases ; diagnosis ; Popliteal Artery ; physiopathology ; Singapore

Localized in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) has been used to measure the metabolic status of the human brain in a non-invasive manner; thus, it is often called "a non-invasive biochemical assay". MRS is more sensitive than magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting ischemic damage by measuring the metabolic changes that occur prior to the anatomic changes. We report a patient who presented with innominate artery occlusion and symptoms of posterior circulation insufficiency and showed favorable metabolic changes by 1H-MRS after revascularization. He showed no visible lesion in brain MRI, but in 1H-MRS, decreased N-acetylaspartate (NAA) signal was noted in a resting state. After revascularization, both symptomatic improvement and recovery of NAA signal were observed. 1H-MRS may provide valuable clinical information in diagnosis and management of cerebral hypoperfusion at a much earlier stage prior to the anatomic changes.
Arterial Occlusive Diseases/pathology ; Brachiocephalic Trunk/pathology* ; Brachiocephalic Trunk/surgery ; Brain/metabolism* ; Cerebral Revascularization* ; Human ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Protons

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to analyze the results of combined agioplasity and femorofemoral bypass in patients with unilateral iliac arterial occlusive disease. METHOD: During the 11-year period from 1990 to 2000, 44 patients with iliac artery occlusion and a hemodynamically significant contralateral iliac artery stenosis were treated by using a combination of percutaneous transluminal angioplasity (PTA) and femorofemoral bypass (n=18) as well as aortobifemoral bypass (n=12) and iliofemoral bypass (n=14) at Korea university medical center. PTA was performed if the lesions in the donor iliac artery were less than 3 cm in length with no more than one well-localized lesion in either the common or external iliac artery, or both. Stent was deployed for suboptimal PTAs. The femorofemoral bypass was done within 3 to 5 days after PTA or stenting. RESULT: The mean age was 61.2 years. The Indications of femorofemoral bypass were hypertension, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, old age (>75), cancer, and previous abdominal operation. The complication rate of the combination treatment was lower than that of the others. Primary patency rate at 1 and 3 years were 89%, 78% for aortobifemoral bypass, 83%, 66% for iliofemoral bypass, and 77%, 65% for femorofemoral bypass, respectively. CONCLUSION: The combination of PTA with or without stent deployment and femorofemoral bypass can be a useful option for treating iliac occlusion and contralateral iliac stenosis in patients with severe comorbid illness, advanced age, and intra-abdominal pathology. Angioplasity can allow more widespread use of femorofemoral bypass in these patients.
Academic Medical Centers ; Angioplasty* ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Iliac Artery ; Korea ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Pathology ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Stents ; Tissue Donors

The greatest advances in understanding and treating stroke have occurred during the past 30 years. The advantages of ultrasound for vascular diagnosis are well known: it is a fast, portable, non-invasive, repeatable and inexpensive technique. Among various clinical situations for the application of ultrasound to stroke care, the best established ones include: (1) early detection and characterization of extracranial atherosclerosis and occlusive diseases especially at the carotid bifurcation; (2) evaluation of consequences of proximal arterial occlusive disease on the distal cerebral vasculature; (3) follow-up of the natural history and response to treatment of acute arterial occlusion that causes hyperacute stroke; (4) detection of microemboli associated with cardiac and aortic pathology and carotid artery surgical manipulation; and (5) follow-up of the time course and reversibility of cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. The field of ultrasonic diagnosis also has detractors and limitations. Even now, the technique is 'operator-dependent' in terms of the accuracy and validity of its results. Newer technology has provided significant advances in this regard; however, it is necessary for each laboratory to maintain a strict quality control in order to maximize the benefits that this powerful technology can provide.
Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; Atherosclerosis ; Carotid Arteries ; Diagnosis* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Natural History ; Pathology ; Quality Control ; Stroke* ; Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ; Ultrasonography* ; Vasospasm, Intracranial

We report a case of erectile dysfunction caused by external iliac artery occlusion, associated with pelvic steal syndrome; bilateral internal iliac arteries were patent. The patient stated that he had experienced erectile dysfunction at similar times along with claudication, but he did not mention it before angiography. He expressed that the erectile dysfunction did not last long and that he felt completely okay after the interventional procedure, in addition to his claudication. Successful treatment of the occlusion, by percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stent implantation, helped resolve erectile dysfunction completely and treat the steal syndrome.
*Angioplasty ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases/*complications/radiography/*therapy ; Erectile Dysfunction/*etiology/*therapy ; Humans ; Iliac Artery/pathology/*radiography ; Intermittent Claudication/complications ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Stents ; Subclavian Steal Syndrome/*complications/*therapy