Objective:To comparatively analyze the clinical efficacy and safety of unilateral radioactive stent (RS) insertion versus bilateral normal stent (NS) insertion in patients with inoperable hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HC).Patients and Methods:Patients with inoperable HC were treated in our hospital from January 2016 to December 2020. The treatment approach included the insertion of either unilateral RS or bilateral NS, evaluating the efficacy and safety of therapy in 2 distinct groups.Results:A total of 58 individuals experienced the insertion of a unilateral RS, whereas 57 patients underwent the insertion of bilateral NS. No statistically significant difference between the unilateral RS and bilateral NS groups was seen in the technical success rates (98.3% vs 94.7%, P = 0.598) and clinical success rates (98.2% vs 100%, P = 0.514). While there is no statistically significant difference in the rates of stent restenosis (19.3% vs 9.3%, P = 0.132) between the two groups, the unilateral RS group demonstrated substantially longer stent patency (202 vs 119 d, P = 0.016) and overall survival (229 vs 122 d, P = 0.004) compared with the bilateral NS group. Moreover, 8 patients (14.0%) in the unilateral RS group and 14 patients (25.9%) in the bilateral NS group had postoperative complications with no significant difference (P = 0.116).Conclusion:When inserting stents for inoperable HC, both unilateral RS and bilateral NS insertion procedures have demonstrated favorable therapeutic efficacy. Nevertheless, inserting a unilateral RS provided a longer duration of stent patency and overall survival than implantation of bilateral NS.

ABSTRACTWe retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 217 consecutive Chinese patients with isolated atherosclerotic popliteal artery lesions treated with atherectomy technique, DCB, and plain old balloon angioplasty from August 2017 to August 2022. There was no difference in the 48‐month patency rate between the atherectomy, DCB, and POBA groups (65%, 56%, and 51%, respectively; p = 0.3), as well as in adjusted Cox regression. Similarly, no difference was observed in the 48‐month clinically driven target lesion revascularization‐free (CDTLR‐free) rate among the groups (77%, 74%, and 65%; p = 0.34), confirmed by adjusted Cox regression. In the 48 months, a significant difference was observed in amputation‐free rates between the atherectomy, DCB, and POBA groups (97%, 91%, and 83%, respectively; p < 0.05). Adjusted Cox regression indicated POBA had worse outcomes than DCB and atherectomy. In the stenosis and occlusion subgroup, the 48‐month primary patency rates were 65%, 70%, and 54% (p > 0.9) and 65% versus 49% versus 49% (p = 0.3), showing no differences among the three groups. In the short lesion subgroup (<10 cm), the 48‐month primary patency rates were 65%, 66%, and 61% for atherectomy, DCB, and POBA, respectively (p = 0.7). In the long lesion subgroup (≥10 cm), the 48‐month patency rates were higher in the atherectomy and DCB groups compared to POBA (64%, 44%, and 34%), with no significant difference among the groups (p = 0.13). DCB and atherectomy demonstrate improved short‐ and mid‐term clinical outcomes compared to POBA in Chinese patients with popliteal artery disease.

A tapered stent with inclined proximal end is designed for fitting the iliac anatomically. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and performance of the new stent in ovine left iliac veins. The experiment was performed in 30 adult sheep, and one nitinol-based VENA-BT® iliac venous stent (KYD stent) was implanted into each animal’s left common iliac vein. Follow-up in all sheep consisted of angiographic, macroscopic, and microscopic examinations at Day 0 (< 24 h), Day 30, Day 90, Day 180 and Day 360 post-stenting (six animals per each time-point). 30 healthy ~ 50 kg sheep were included in this study and randomly divided into five groups according to the follow-up timepoint. All stents were implanted successfully into the left ovine common iliac vein. No significant migration occurred at follow-up. There is no statistically significant difference between the groups (p > 0.05), indicating no serious lumen loss occurred during the follow-up period. Common iliac venous pressure was further measured and the results further indicated the lumen patency at follow-up. Histological examinations indicated that no vessel injury and wall rupture, stent damage, and luminal thrombus occurred. There was moderate inflammatory cell infiltration around the stent in Day-0 and Day-30 groups with the average inflammation score of 2.278 and 2.167, respectively. The inflammatory reaction was significantly reduced in Day-90, Day-180 and Day-360 groups and the average inflammation scores were 0.9444 (p < 0.001, Day-90 vs Day-0), 1.167 (p < 0.001, Day-180 vs Day-0) and 0.667 (p < 0.001, Day-90 vs Day-0), respectively. The microscopic examinations found that the stents were well covered by endothelial cells in all follow-up time points. The results suggested that the KYD stent is feasible and safe in animal model. Future clinical studies may be required to further evaluate its safety and efficacy.

ObjectiveTo compare the clinical efficacy of covered stents and bare-metal stents in the endovascular treatment of subclavian artery occlusive disease. MethodsBetween January 2014 and December 2020, 161 patients (112 males) underwent stenting of left subclavian arteries; CSs were implanted in 55 patients (34.2%) and BMSs in 106 (65.8%). Thirty-day outcomes, mid-term patency, and follow-up results were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier curves. Relevant clinical, anatomical, and procedural factors were evaluated for their association with patency in the two groups using Cox proportional hazards regression. ResultsMean follow-up was 45 & PLUSMN; 18 months. The primary patency was 93.8% (95% CI, 81.9%-98.0%) in the covered stent group and 73.7% (95% CI, 63.2%-81.6%; P = 0.010) in the bare-metal stent group. The primary patency in the total occlusion subcategory was significant in favor of CS (93.3%, 95% CI, 61.26%-99.0%) compared with BMS (42.3%, 95% CI, 22.9%-60.5%; P = 0.005). Cox proportional hazards regression indicated that the use of BMSs [hazard ratio (HR), 4.90; 95% CI, 1.47-16.31; P = 0.010] and total occlusive lesions (HR, 7.03; 95% CI, 3.02-16.34; P < 0.001) were negative predictors of patency, and the vessel diameter (HR, 3.17; 95% CI, 1.04-9.71; P = 0.043)) was a positive predictor of patency. ConclusionCompared with bare stents, covered stents have a higher midterm primary patency in the treatment of subclavian artery occlusive disease.

Background: The present study evaluated the prognosis of directional atherectomy (DA)+drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty for femoropopliteal artery lesions compared with bare nitinol stent (BNS). Patients and methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients with femoropopliteal artery lesions who underwent percutaneous endovascular surgery between January 2016 and June 2019. The primary outcome was the primary patency rate after 12, 24, and 36 months; the secondary outcomes comprised incidence of flow-limiting dissections, technical success, limb salvage, and all-cause death. Results: During the study period, 110 (44%) patients underwent DA+DCB, and 140 (56%) patients underwent bare nitinol stent (BNS). There were no differences in the 12- and 24-month patency rates of the two groups (98.2% vs. 93.6% and 68.2% vs. 60.0%, both p>.05). The 36-month primary patency rate in the DA+DCB group was significantly higher than that of the BNS group (27.3% vs. 15.7%, p=.003). The technical success rate and all-cause death were similar between groups (p>.05). Flow-limiting dissections occurred more frequently in the BNS group than in the DA+DCB group (27.9% vs. 10.9%, p=.033). After adjustment for potential confounders, such as sex, smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, ABI after surgery, TASC II B, lesion length ≥15 cm, two-vessel runoff, and three-vessel runoff, the HR for primary patency rate comparing BNS to DA+DCB was 2.61 (95%CI: 1.61-4.25). Conclusions: In this retrospective cohort study, DA+DCB was associated with a higher 30-month primary patency rate and a lower flow-limiting dissection incidence than BNS.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the difference in safety and effectiveness of directional atherectomy (DA) and plain balloon angioplasty with adjunctive stenting (BA-STENT) in the treatment of de novo femoropopliteal artery occlusive lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, randomized trial of DA versus BA-STENT in femoropopliteal arteries was carried out in a single medical center. Demographic data, procedural characteristics, and follow-up information were recorded. The technical, procedural, and clinical outcomes were reported. The primary endpoint was the primary stenosis-free patency rate at 12 and 18 months after the intervention. The secondary endpoints included the rates of technical success, freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR), limb amputation, and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: A total of 188 patients were included in this study. The DA group consisted of 89 (47.3%) patients, and the BA-STENT group consisted of 99 (52.7%) patients. There were 134 males and 54 females with an average age of 68 years, all of which had lesions of Rutherford Grade 2 and above. There was no statistically significant difference in age, gender, smoking, or comorbidities between two groups. The technical success rates were 98.9% in the DA group and 100% in the BA-STENT group (P = 0.47). There was no statistically significant difference in primary stenosis-free patency (90.0% vs. 90.6% at 6 months, 76.7% vs. 77.8% at 12 months, and 72.3% vs. 68.9% at 18 months after the intervention) or freedom from TLR (96.3% vs. 95.8% at 6 months, 88.3% vs. 91.6% at 12 months, and 86.1% vs. 85.4% at 18 months after the procedure) between the DA and the BA-STENT groups. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of distal embolization, thrombosis, and mortality between two groups. No patient underwent major amputation. CONCLUSION: For the treatment of de novo Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) II A-C femoropopliteal artery lesions, DA demonstrated comparable results with the plain balloon angioplasty with adjunctive stenting.

We here report a case of a 52-year-old man who underwent simultaneous bypass grafting surgery on his carotid–axillary arteries bilaterally (axillary–carotid and carotid–axillary bypasses) after a failed endovascular treatment. This has rarely been reported. Imaging follow-up at 5 days showed bypass graft patency, and he developed no complications. At 1-month follow-up, the patient had no discomfort or recurrence of vertigo and ataxia and his blood pressure was steady and normal bilaterally. The results in this patient indicate that axillary–carotid and carotid–axillary bypasses using expanded polytetrafluoroethylene grafts are a safe and valuable techniques for revascularizing common carotid artery and subclavian artery occlusive diseases, achieving patency and freedom from stroke in the short term. Long-term outcomes are yet to be determined.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication in the intensive care unit (ICU), which may increase the mortality of critically ill patients. The red blood cell distribution width (RDW) has proved useful as a predictor of short-term prognosis in critically ill patients with AKI. However, it remains unknown whether RDW has a prognostic value of long-term all-cause mortality in these patients. The data of 18279 critically ill patients with AKI at first-time hospital admission were extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC-III) database. The tertiles of the RDW values were used to divide subjects into three groups, namely RDW < 13.6% for the low RDW group, 13.6% ≤ RDW < 15.2% for the middle RDW group and RDW ≥ 15.2% for the high RDW group. Demographic data, mortality, 4-year survival time and severity scale scores were compared among groups. The Kaplan-Meier analysis and the Cox regression analysis were performed to assess the impact of RDW on all-cause mortality in AKI patients. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was done to evaluate the prognostic value of RDW on the long-term outcome of critically ill patients with AKI. The median age of the enrolled subjects was 65.6 years. AKI patients with a higher RDW value had significantly shorter survival time and higher death rate. By the Kaplan-Meier analysis, patients in the higher RDW group presented significantly shorter survival time and higher death rate. The Cox regression model indicated RDW as an independent risk factor of all-cause mortality of AKI patients (HR 1.219, 95% CI, 1.211 to 1.228). By the ROC analysis, RDW appeared more efficient in predicting long-term prognosis as compared with conventional severity scales. The AUC of RDW (95% CI, 0.712 to 0.725) was significantly higher than other severity scale scores. In conclusion, RDW is positively correlated to survival time of 4-year follow-up in critically ill patients with AKI, and RDW is an independent prognostic factor of long-term outcomes of these patients.

BACKGROUND:Embolic superior mesenteric artery (SMA) occlusion is associated with high mortality rates. Delayed treatment often leads to serious consequences, including intestinal necrosis, resection, and even patient death. Endovascular repair is being introduced, which can improve clinical symptoms and prognosis and decrease the incidence of exploratory laparotomy. Many reports have described successful endovascular revascularization of embolic SMA occlusion. However, most of those reports are case reports, and there are few reports on Chinese patients. In this paper, we describe the technical and clinical outcomes of aspiration therapy using a guiding catheter and long sheath technique which facilitates the endovascular repair procedure.AIM:To evaluate the complications, feasibility, effectiveness, and safety of endovascular treatment for the acute embolic occlusion of the SMA.METHODS:This retrospective study reviewed eight patients (six males and two females) from August 2013 to October 2018 at Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University. The patients presented with acute embolic occlusion of the SMA on admission and were initially diagnosed by computed tomography angiography (CTA). The patients who underwent endovascular treatment with a guiding catheter had no obvious evidence of bowel infarct. No intestinal necrosis was identified by gastrointestinal surgeons through peritoneal puncture or CTA. The complications, feasibility, effectiveness, safety, and mortality were assessed.RESULTS:Six (75%) patients were male, and the mean patient age was 70.00 ± 8.43 years (range, 60-84 years). The acute embolic occlusion of the SMA was initially diagnosed by CTA. All patients had undertaken anticoagulation primarily, and percutaneous aspiration using a guiding catheter was then undertaken because the emboli had large amounts of thrombus residue. No death occurred among the patients. Complete patency of the suffering artery trunk was achieved in six patients, and defect filling was accomplished in two patients. The in-hospital mortality was 0%. The overall 12-mo survival rate was 100%. All patients survived, and two of the eight patients had complications (the clot broke off during aspiration).CONCLUSION:Aspiration therapy is feasible, safe, and beneficial for acute embolic SMA occlusion. Aspiration therapy has many benefits for reducing patients' death, resolving thrombi, and improving symptoms.

Objective The incidence of chronic lower limb ischemia caused by arteriosclerotic obliteration of lower extremities is increasing recent years and there is a high risk of amputation and mortality. This study was to find out the changes in a single center for 16 years. Methods A retrospective analysis of the data of patients in single-center vascular surgery in the past 16 years was carried out. The patients with chronic lower limb ischemia caused by lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans were screened out, and the data of operation information, amputation, length of stay and hospitalization expenses during hospitalization were collected. Results A total of 4 602 patients were included, of whom 57.39% were diabetic. It was found that the number of patients admitted, the number of endovascular treatment, the average cost of hospitalization increased year by year, and the average length of hospitalization decreased year by year. The amputation rate decreased from 8.12% (from 2002 to 2007) to 0.92% (from 2008 to 2017) (P<0.01). The average days of hospitalization decreased from 28.20 days (from 2002 to 2007) to 11.65 days (from 2008 to 2017) (P<0.01). The average hospitalization cost rose from 54 466.94 yuan (from 2002 to 2007) to 73 685.22 yuan (from 2008-2017) (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in amputation rate, hospitalization days and hospitalization costs between diabetic group and non-diabetic group. In diabetic subgroup, amputation rate decreased from 8.83% (between 2002 and 2007) to 1.05% (between 2008 and 2017) (P<0.01). The average hospitalization days decreased from 30.12 days (between 2002 and 2007) to 12.60 days (between 2008 and 2017) (P<0.01). The average cost of hospitalization rose from 58 530.94 yuan (between 2002 and 2007) to 74 433.75 yuan (between 2008 and 2017) (P<0.01). Conclusions From 2002 to 2017, the number of patients with chronic lower limb ischemia increased gradually, and so as the number of endovascular treatment. While the amputation rate and average hospitalization time decreased, and the average hospitalization cost increased. The same trend was observed in the diabetic subgroup. The significant decrease in amputation rate may be related to the development of endovascular therapy and angiogenesis therapy. Key words: Arteriosclerosis obliterans/CO; Lower extremity/BS; Ischemia/ET; Diabetes mellitus; Amputation

Objective To explore the clinical effectiveness and safety of selective usage of embolic protection device to prevent distal embolization during SilverHawk atherectomy for atherosclerotic femoropo-pliteal artery disease. Methods From Jan 2014 to December 2015, 45 femoropopliteal artery atherosclerot-ic patients were treated with SilverHawk atherectomy and selective embolic protection device (EPD). The indication for EPD was instent restenosis, highly calcified lesion, suspicious of thrombosis, ulcerated le-sion, and single below-the-knee runoff. All cases who met the indication were treated with atherectomy and EPD, and those who did not meet the indication were treated with or without EPD according to the patient's choice. The embolic related complications were analyzed. Results Twenty three out of 45 patients who met the EPD indication were all treated with SilverHawk atherectomy under EPD protection, filter captured deb-ris in 17 patients (73. 9％) of the patients. The other 22 patients who did not meet the indication were di-vided into 2 groups according to the patient's choice of EPD usage, 11 were treated by atherectomy with EPD and 11 without EPD. One case out of 11 unindicated patients without EPD suffered a tibioperoneal trunk embolization and restored with catheter aspiration. For 1/11 (9. 1％) unindicated cases with EPD protec-tion, the filter captured embolization. There was a significant difference of distal embolization rate between the indicated and unindicated patients (χ2 =19. 368,P =0. 000). All filters were retrieved successfully without any distal embolization and any complications except arterial spasm occurred in 2 patients and re-stored well with nitroglycerin. Conclusions It is safe and effective for selective usage of embolic protection device to prevent distal embolization during SilverHawk atherectomy for atherosclerotic femoropopliteal artery disease.

Objective: To present our experience of the endovascular treatment of subclavian artery aneurysms (SAAs) and analyze the clinical manifestations, imaging findings and treatment outcomes. Methods: In this retrospective study, nine patients with SAAs underwent endovascular stent placement in our center between July 2011 and June 2016. Clinical features, imaging findings, treatment outcomes and follow-up results of these SAA patients were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Nine patients were diagnosed with SAAs by computer tomography angiography (CTA). Five patients underwent percutaneous endovascular stent placement in the subclavian artery. Three patients underwent endovascular repair of the SAAs with coil embolization and stent graft. One patient underwent stent graft implantation by the simultaneous kissing stent technique. Five patients had their symptoms relieved and thrombosis occurred in one case. The mean follow-up period was 17 months, ranging from 8 to 40 months. Conclusion: For patients with SAAs, endovascular treatment is a feasible choice, with a high success rate, few complications and good clinical outcomes.

Objective To investigate the clinical outcome of drug-coated balloon ( DCB) treated atherosclerosis obliterans ( ASO) in lower extremity. Methods Data of 28 patients were retrospectively an-alyzed to determine the effectiveness and characteristics of DCB treatment. Results All the 28 patients were successfully treated with endovascular intervention therapy. Lesions mainly located in the superficial femoral arteries were divided into Groups A, B, C, and D according to TransAtlantic InterSociety Consensus (TASC) Ⅱ classification. Follow-up at 6, 9, and 12 months showed 100％, 84. 6％ and 76. 9％ patency rate in treated artery. After 9 months of endovascular intervention therapy, the combined artery patency rates in Groups A and B was 92. 8％, which was significantly better than 66. 7％ in Groups C and D ( P <0. 05 ) . DCB angioplasty had an artery patency rate of 86. 7％, while DCB angioplasty plus stenting had the patency rate of 85. 7％ (P>0. 05). Artery patency rate of Simple DCB angioplasty in ten patients (Exclu-ding patients with in-stent restenosis ) was 80％ and of Atherectomy plus DCB angioplasty in 5 patients was 100％ (P<0. 05). Conclusions DCB angioplasty has superiority over conventional intervention therapy. Combined debulky and DCB angioplasty appear to be the best choice in current treatment of ASO in lower extremity.

Objective To evaluate efficacy, safety, and long-term patency and fracture rates of self-expanding nitinol stent after failed percutaneous transluminal angioplasty ( PTA) of popliteal artery in patients with chronic critical limb ischemia ( CLI ) or lifestyle-limiting claudication in Chinese patients. Methods A total of 64 patients (68 limbs) was retrospectively analyzed who underwent endovascular treat-ment for stenoocclusive lesions in the popliteal artery from January 2008 to July 2012. In a single-center study, self-expanding nitinol stents were implanted in 68 popliteal arteries for the treatment of stenosis grea-ter than 75％ or occlusions in the popliteal arteries. Follow-up patency was assessed by clinical examina-tion, ankle-brachial index, and color ultrasound or digital subtraction angiography, and stent fracture was assessed by plain X-rays at 6 and 12 months and annually thereafter. Results Stent implantation was suc-cessful in 63 patients (98. 5％). Mean follow-up was 22. 1 months (22. 1 ± 13. 8). 1-year, 2-year and 3-year primary patency rate ( PPR) was 76％, 60％ and 43％, respectively. The 1-year, 2-year, and 3-year secondary patency rate ( SPR) was 87％, 82％ and 73％, respectively. The 1-year , 2-year, and 3-year PPRs and SPRs for subgroups, trans-articular surface versus no trans-articular surface were not significant difference (P>0. 05). Two patients were lost to follow-up (3％). Two patients (3％) died during the fol-low-up period. Stent fractures were seen in 11 limbs (11 of 68, 16. 2％) and the fractures were identified in P1 and P2 segment. Three patients were performed above-knee amputation because of stent occlusion and gangrene of limb (3 of 68, 4. 4％). Conclusions Stent implantation is a safe and effective treatment of popliteal artery occlusion. One can improve the popliteal arterial stent patency rate by interventional tech-nique, such as transcatheter arterial thrombolysis, balloon angioplasty, silverhawk atherectomy, and rescue stent. One maybe try to avoid stent placement up to the popliteal arterial P1 and P2 segment owing to stent fracture.

Objective To explore the safety and effectiveness of carotid artery stenting (CAS) for patients because severe carotid stenosis with contralateral carotid occlusion is high risk factors for carotid endarterectomy (CEA).Methods Clinical data of patients who received carotid artery stenting for severe carotid stenosis with contralateral carotid occlusion in our department were retrospectively collected and analyzed.Results There were 21 patients who received CAS for severe carotid stenosis with contralateral carotid occlusion in our department from Jan 2008 to June 2016.Technical success rate was 100％.There were no myocardial infarction and death but 1 stroke during postoperative 30 days.Nineteen patients were followed-up with a mean time of 22 (6 ～ 48) months and only 1 moderate in stent restenosis were found by duplex ultrasonography.Conclusions Carotid artery stenting is safe and effective for patients who had severe carotid stenosis with contralateral carotid occlusion,but attention should be paid to prevent and manage complications.

Background People recently realized that it is important for artificial vascular biodegradable graft to bionically mimic the functions of the native vessel. In order to overcome the high risk of thrombosis and keep the patency in the clinical small-diameter vascular graft (SDVG) transplantation, a double-layer bionic scaffold, which can offer anticoagulation and mechanical strength simultaneously, was designed and fabricated via electrospinning technique.Methods Heparin-conjugated polycaprolactone (hPCL) and polyurethane (PU)-collagen type I composite was used as the inner and outer layers, respectively. The porosity and the burst pressure of SDVG were evaluated. Its biocompatibility was demonstrated by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazol)-2,5-diphenyl-2H tetrazolium bromide (MTT) test in vitro and subcutaneous implants in vivo respectively. The grafts of diameter 2.5 mm and length 4.0 cm were implanted to replace the femoral artery in Beagle dog model. Then, angiography was performed in the Beagle dogs to investigate the patency and aneurysm of grafts at 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-transplantation. After angiography, the patent grafts were explanted for histological analysis.Results The double-layer bionic SDVG meet the clinical mechanical demand. Its good biocompatibility was proven by cytotoxicity experiment (the cell's relative growth rates (RGR) of PU-collagen outer layer were 102.8%, 109.2% and 103.5%, while the RGR of hPCL inner layer were 99.0%, 100.0% and 98.0%, on days 1, 3, and 5, respectively) and the subdermal implants experiment in the Beagle dog. Arteriography showed that all the implanted SDVGs were patent without any aneurismal dilatation or obvious anastomotic stenosis at the 2nd, 4th, and 8th week after the operation, except one SDVG that failed at the 2nd week. Histological analysis and SEM showed that the inner layer was covered by new endothelial-like cells.Conclusion The double-layer bionic SDVG is a promising candidate as a replacement of native small-diameter vascular graft.

OBJECTIVE:To explore the management strategies of pyogenic vascular prosthetic graft infection.METHODS:The clinical data of 5 cases of prosthetic vascular graft infection in lower extremity between 2003 and 2010 were retrospectively analyzed.RESULTS:All of them were treated by antibiotics, debridement and drainage. One patient died from acute myocardial infarction and septic shock. Two patients were cured by extra-anatomic arterial bypass and removal of infected graft after a basic control of infections. And another two patients had the diseased limb amputated after the removal of infected vascular graft without blood reconstruction.CONCLUSION:Pyogenic infection of vascular graft is hard to treat with conservative measures. Revascularization prior to removal of infected graft is recommended for a better outcome.

Objective To explore the indications of axillary artery approach in endovascular treatment and to analyze complications associated with axillary artery puncture.Methods In 111 cases endovaccular treatment via axillary artery approach by Seldinger technique was performed.The indications of axillary artery approach and the complications associated with axillary artery punture were respectively analyzed.Results The success rate of angiography was 100％,and the success rate of angioplasty was 90.8％ by axillary artery approach.The total incidence of complications was 10.3％.The incidence of local hematomas was 4.8％,nerve injury was 3.2％,pseudoaneurysm was 0.8％,acute thrombosis of the axillary artery was 0.8％,acute thrombosis of the axillary vein was 0.8％.The main factors affecting complications include vascular conditions,perioperative medication,anatomy of the axillary artery,location of puncture point,the success rate of first attempt,and pressure of bandage.Conclusions The axillary artery approach increases the success rate of endovascular treatment.Reasonable choice of axillary artery appruch,meticulous perioperative management and fully understanding the anatomical characteristics of the axillary artery can decrease the complications of axillary artery puncture.

OBJECTIVE To explore the feasibility and efficacy of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in the treatment of atherosclerotic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS). METHODS From January 2002 to December 2010, 126 ACAS patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy at our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. There were 92 males and 34 females with an average age of 65.5 years old (range: 48 - 75). Among them, 25 had sequelae of cerebral infarction, 69 symptomatic cerebral ischemia and 32 asymptomatic. Sixty-two patients were monitored intra-operatively with transcranial Doppler (TCD). Among them, 5 patients underwent arterial shunt due to a reduced of blood flow in middle cerebral artery for over 50%. The other 64 patients without TCD monitoring underwent intra-operative arterial shunt. And 22 patients underwent patch angioplasty with autologous or prosthetic vascular patch. Intracranial hyperperfusion was prevented by a compression of common carotid artery or control was successful without perioperative mortality. All patients with cerebral ischemic symptoms and some patients with cerebral infarction sequelae had much post-operative improvement. Deviated tongue protrusion occurred in 10 patients and 8 of them recovered at Week 2 post-operation. And 118 patients were followed up for a mean period of 46.5 months (range: 6 - 96). Two patients with deviated tongue protrusion had slight improvements; 2 patients with severe carotid artery stenosis underwent stent angioplasty; 4 patients with moderate carotid artery stenosis received conservative treatment; among 7 deceased patients, two died of cerebral infarction. CONCLUSION CEA is effective in the treatment of carotid artery stenosis with a high success rate. TCD monitoring during CEA is valuable for preventing cerebral ischemia and intracranial hyperperfusion. Arterial shunt and arterial patch angioplasty should be considered according to certain conditions during CEA.