11/1178. Subacute ischaemic proctitis: a rare condition requiring extensive rectal surgery. Subacute ischaemic proctitis is a rare condition. We describe the case of a 60-year-old male patient who developed, after aortic aneurysm repair, a transient ischaemic colitis that totally healed without sequelae. He eventually developed symptoms of severe proctitis. Investigations identified a stenosis of the mid rectum, while the upper rectum was inflammatory. On angiogram, there was a poor blood flow through the Riolan's arcade and a stenosis of the proximal aorto-graft anastomosis. diagnosis of subacute ischaemic proctitis due to poor blood supply through the internal iliac arteries was made. Anti-inflammatory drugs and dilations were inefficient. A subtotal proctectomy with low colorectal anastomosis was required. On pathological specimen, the lesions were strongly suggestive of an ischaemic process. The patient had an excellent recovery and was asymptomatic 8 months after the operation. ( info) |
12/1178. Chronic aortic dissection: stenting of aortic true lumen obliteration with late dynamic variations of both lumens. Percutaneous endovascular techniques were used to treat an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) associated with pancreatic transplantation. A pancreatic transplant superior mesenteric artery-to-superior mesenteric-vein AVF was successfully embolized while flow to the pancreas transplant was preserved. The embolization was aided by the use of Guglielmi detachable coils and a detachable balloon. No complications were encountered. At 23 months follow-up, the patient is doing well with no recurrence. ( info) |
13/1178. Small ruptured abdominal aneurysm diagnosed by emergency physician ultrasound. Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms currently have a high rate of both mortality and misdiagnosis. Aneurysms smaller than 4 cm are not commonly considered for surgical repair. This report describes the case of a ruptured abdominal aneurysm measuring less than 4 cm diagnosed by the emergency physician utilizing bedside ultrasound. Within 30 minutes of arrival at the emergency department the patient's abdominal pain resolved spontaneously after defecation. If the bedside ultrasound had not been performed it is possible the patient would have been discharged from the hospital without surgical intervention. Bedside ultrasound by emergency physicians may improve the diagnosis of ruptured aortic aneurysms, particularly if the presentation is atypical. ( info) |
14/1178. Abdominal pulsatile tumor after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. A 70 years old patient was successfully treated for infrarenal aortic aneurysm by an endovascular bifurcated prosthesis. Three months later, because of dysuria, he underwent urological examination revealing an abdominal pulsatile tumor. Thereafter, the patient was sent to our emergency ward with suspected symptomatical endoleak. Radiological screening by computer tomography and magnetic resonance angiography showed good post-operative results without endoleak. Patient was treated with antispasmodic medication and is doing well today. Because endovascular repair of aortic aneurysm, in contrast to an open approach, does not eliminate the aneurysm itself, post-operative abdominal palpation can be ambiguous. magnetic resonance angiography--without the need of nephrotoxic contrast medium--compares favourably to CT and provides excellent pictures with less artefacts for post-operative screening of endoleak. If reperfusion can be excluded, pulsation is due to the transmission of the blood-pressure wave to the thrombosed aneurysm. ( info) |
15/1178. Acute abdominal pain and urgency to defecate in the young and the old: a useful symptom-complex? In the belief that "pattern recognition" is an important first step of the diagnostic process, we report our observation of an uncommon and heretofore poorly documented symptom-complex in 10 patients, and suggest that the constellation of abdominal pain and urgency to defecate in the acutely ill surgical patient should raise the diagnostic possibility of intra-abdominal bleeding. In our experience, this is statistically likely to be associated with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in the old and a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in the young. ( info) |
16/1178. Fatal late multiple emboli after endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Case report. BACKGROUND: The short term experience of endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) seems promising but long term randomised data are lacking. Consequently, cases treated by endovascular procedures need to be closely followed for potential risks and benefits. CASE REPORT: A 70 year-old mildly hypertensive male without previous or present arteriosclerotic, pulmonary, or urological manifestations was subjected to endovascular treatment after his mass-screening diagnosed abdominal aortic aneurysm had expanded to above 5 cm in diameter, the aneurysm having been found by CT-scanning and arteriography to be endovascularly treatable. A Vanguard bifurcated aortic stent graft was implanted under epidural/spinal anaesthesia and covered by cephalosporine and heparin (8000 IE) protection. Apart from treatment of a groin haematoma and stenosis of the left superficial femoral artery, the postoperative period presented no problems. A few days before the monthly follow-up visit, the patient developed uraemia, gangrene of one foot and dyspnoea. blood glucose and LDH was elevated. Deterioration led to death a month and a half after stent implantation. autopsy showed extraordinary large, extensive soft, brown vegetations in the lower part of the thoracic aorta above the properly infrarenally-placed stent. Microscopic examination revealed multiple microemboli in the liver, spleen, pancreas, intestines, testes, and especially the kidneys. DISCUSSION: Early death from microemboli after aortic stent implantation has been reported. However, the present case developed fatal multiple microemboli so late that they could not have originated from the excluded mural thrombus. The sudden death of an otherwise healthy man of extensive microemboli is difficult to explain. The stent application may have altered the proximal flow and wall movements disposing to microemboli in the case of vegetations. ( info) |
17/1178. Chylous complications after abdominal aortic surgery. Two patients developed chylous complications following abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. One patient had chylous ascitis and was successfully treated by a peritoneo-caval shunt. The other patient developed a lymph cyst, which gradually resorbed after puncture. Chylous complications following aortic surgery are rare. patients in bad a general condition should be treated by initial paracentesis and total parenteral nutrition, supplemented by medium-chain triglyceride and low-fat diet. If no improvement is observed on this regimen, the next step should be implementation of a peritoneo-venous shunt, whereas direct ligation of the leak should be reserved for those who are not responding to this treatment. ( info) |
18/1178. Primary aortoduodenal fistula. The aortoenteric fistula is a well-known but uncommon cause of gastrointestinal haemorrhage. It is usually secondary to previous reconstructive surgery of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Primary aortoenteric fistula is a rare disorder which predominantly occurs in the duodenum. We report the case of a 76-year-old patient who presented with melaena and hypovolaemic shock due to a primary aortoduodenal fistula. Pathogenesis, diagnostic procedures and postmortem pathologic examination of this condition are discussed. The value of computed tomography in establishing the diagnosis is emphasized. ( info) |
| cholesterol embolization syndrome is due to dislodgment of cholesterol crystals from the atherosclerotic plaques lining the walls of major arteries resulting in an occlusion of small arteries. We describe a case of severe cutaneous cholesterol emboli syndrome following repeat coronary angiography showing by our observation that this syndrome is often unrecognized or misdiagnosed and that a better evaluation of risks factors in patients undergoing invasive procedures could prevent this severe complication. ( info) |
20/1178. Primary aorto-duodenal fistula secondary to infected abdominal aortic aneurysms: the role of local debridement and extra-anatomic bypass. Gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to spontaneous rupture of an infected abdominal aortic aneurysm into the duodenum is a rare and highly lethal clinical occurrence, representing roughly a third of all primary aortoduodenal fistulas. diagnosis is problematic due to the subtleties in the clinical presentation and course, and surgical treatment is usually delayed, representing a challenge even for the experienced vascular surgeon. The overall mortality is over 30% and the operative approaches are still controversial. Two cases of ruptured infrarenal aortic aneurysms complicated with aortoduodenal fistula were recently treated at our institution. Bacterial aortitis was documented by arterial wall cultures positive for klebsiella and salmonella species respectively. The clinical courses and outcomes of the two patients (one survivor ) treated with retroperitoneal debridement and extra-anatomic bypass and a review of the modern surgical treatment are herein described. ( info) |