Vascular Complication score

BACKGROUND: As Staphylococcus aureus (SA) remains one of the leading cause of infective endocarditis (IE), this study evaluates whether S. aureus is associated with more severe infections or worsened outcomes compared to non-S. aureus (NSA) organisms. METHODS: All patients undergoing valve surgery for bacterial IE between 1995 and 2013 at our institution were included in this study (n = 323). Clinical data were retrospectively collected from the chart review. Patients were stratified according to the causative organism; SA (n = 85) and NSA (n = 238)...

BACKGROUND: Many difficulties exist in establishing a treatment plan for slow-flow vascular malformation (SFVM). In particular, little research has been conducted on the surgical treatment of SFVMs. Thus, we investigated what proportion of SFVM patients were candidates for surgical treatment in clinical practice and how useful surgical treatment was in those patients. METHODS: This study included 109 SFVM patients who received care at the authors' clinic from 2007 to 2015...

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of atrial fibrillation (AF) has evolved into a frequently performed procedure. The aim of this study was to monitor changes in patient characteristics, procedural characteristics, outcomes and complications over the past 10 years. METHODS: All consecutive patients who underwent primary RFCA treatment of AF in the University Medical Center Utrecht from 2005-2015 were included. In all patients, the primary ablation strategy was pulmonary vein (PV) antrum isolation without additional substrate modification...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and the safety of the application of chitosan membranes on the neuro-vascular bundles after nerve-sparing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy (RARP). The secondary aim of the study was to report preliminary data and more particularly potency recovery data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Single-center, single-arm prospective study. Enrolment from July 2015 to September 2016 of all patients with localized prostate cancer scheduled for RARP with IIEF-5 score > 17 after San Luigi Gonzaga Hospital Ethics Committee (Orbassano) approval (80/2015) and patient's acceptance...

Whether to anticoagulate dialysis patients with atrial fibrillation is a common clinical dilemma with limited high-quality data to inform decision-making. While the efficacy and safety of anticoagulation for stroke prevention in dialysis patients with atrial fibrillation has long been debated and remains unclear, the more upstream issue of stroke risk assessment from atrial fibrillation has received relatively little attention. In the general population, a handful of risk scores to help predict stroke and hemorrhage risk in the setting of atrial fibrillation are widely validated and applied in clinical practice...

BACKGROUND: There are several options for reconstruction of proximal humerus resections after wide resection for malignant tumors in children. The clavicula pro humero technique is a biologic option that has been used in the past, but there are only scant case reports and small series that comment on the results of the procedure. Because the longevity of children mandates a reconstruction with potential longevity not likely to be achieved by other techniques, the clavicula pro humero technique may be a potential option in selected patients...

BACKGROUND: For nonagenarians with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become a feasible therapeutic option. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the procedural outcomes and mid-term follow-up in this patient group and compare this to octogenarians. METHODS: From 1359 patients who underwent TAVI at our institution between March 2009 and February 2016, 82 patients were nonagenarians and 912 were octogenarians...

OBJECTIVES: Vascular complications remain a significant technical challenge for transfemoral TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement). The goal of this study was to develop a pre-operative tool for prediction of major vascular complications of TAVR. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed of all patients who underwent transfemoral TAVR at a tertiary medical center from 2011-2015. Iliofemoral arterial measurements were obtained with CTA 3D reconstructions images and an Iliac Morphology Score (IMS) was created from these measurements...

BACKGROUND: Several recipient vessels can be used in free microsurgical fibula flaps (MFFs) for the treatment of avascular necrosis of the femoral head (ANFH). Few articles investigate the influence of different recipient vessels on outcomes of MFF for ANFH. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search of databases including PubMed-Medline, Ovid-Embase, and Cochrane Library was performed to collect the related studies. The Medical Subject Headings used were "femur head necrosis" and "bone transplantation...

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that inpatient postoperative pain trajectories are associated with 30-day inpatient readmission and emergency department (ED) visits. BACKGROUND: Surgical readmissions have few known modifiable predictors. Pain experienced by patients may reflect surgical complications and/or inadequate or difficult symptom management. METHODS: National Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement data on inpatient general, vascular, and orthopedic surgery from 2008 to 2014 were merged with laboratory, vital sign, health care utilization, and postoperative complications data...

BACKGROUND: Nowadays the prognostic role of gender as a relevant factor after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is still unfair, since available data in the literature are few and uneven. The aim of this survey was to collect acute and 30-day safety and efficacy clinical data in high- and intermediate-risk women, who underwent TAVI with new-generation devices, in the Campania Region. METHODS: All medium and high-volume TAVI centers in Campania have been invited to fulfill an online, ad-hoc questionnaire, collecting pre-, peri- and post-procedural data concerning female patients, treated between January and December 2016...

This was a retrospective observational study. The aim of this study was to evaluate functional outcomes in children treated for Gartland III supracondylar humerus (SCH) fracture with neurovascular (NV) injuries using validated outcome measures. A secondary goal was to determine whether clinical parameters such as age at injury, sex, weight, fracture site, and/or direction of displacement could predict NV injury at the time of fracture or long-term functional outcomes in these patients.One hundred fifty-four patients of Gartland III SCH fractures between March 2004 and May 2013 were studied retrospectively...

Following new trends in precision medicine, Juxatarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (JAAA) treatment has been enabled by using patient-specific fenestrated endovascular grafts. The X-ray guided procedure requires precise orientation of multiple modular endografts within the arteries confirmed via radiopaque markers. Patient-specific 3D printed phantoms could familiarize physicians with complex procedures and new devices in a risk-free simulation environment to avoid periprocedural complications and improve training...

Objective: To evaluate the short-term and long-term outcomes after laparoscopic surgery compared with traditional laparotomy in cases of stage ⅠA2-ⅡA2 cervical cancer. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on the clinical data of 1 863 patients diagnosed as FIGO stages ⅠA2-ⅡA2 cervical cancer in 6 third-grade class-A hospitals in Guangxi province between January 2007 and May 2014. One thousand and seventy-one received laparoscopy, and 792 received laparotomy. T-test, U-test and χ(2) test were used to compare the short-term and long-term outcomes...

BACKGROUND: Stromal vascular fraction (SVF) can easily be obtained from a mini-lipoaspirate procedure of fat tissue and platelet rich plasma (PRP) can be obtained from peripheral blood. We evaluated the safety and preliminary efficacy of administering SVF and PRP intra-articularly into patients with osteoarthritis grade 1 and 2. METHODS: A total of ten patients underwent a local tumescent liposuction procedure to remove approximately 100 ml of fat tissue from the abdomen...

BACKGROUND: Despite the frequency of new clinically important atrial fibrillation (AF) after noncardiac surgery and its increased association with the risk of stroke at 30 days, there are limited data informing their prediction, association with outcomes, and management. METHODS: We used the data from the PeriOperative ISchemic Evaluation trial to determine, in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery, the association of new clinically important AF with 30-day outcomes, and to assess management of these patients...

BACKGROUND: Diabetes-associated microvascular complications such as retinopathy and neuropathy often lead to end-organ and tissue damage. Impaired skin microcirculation often precedes the detection of other advanced diabetic complications. The ANS-1 system contains a redesigned sympathetic skin response (ANS-1 SSR) device that measures sudomotor function, a photoplethysmography sensor, and a blood pressure device to comprehensively assess cardiac autonomic neuropathy and endothelial dysfunction...

INTRODUCTION: Dark chocolate has shown beneficial effects on cardiovascular health and might also modulate hypertensive complications in pregnancy and uteroplacental blood flow. Increased uteroplacental resistance is associated with systemic arterial stiffness. We aimed to investigate the short-term effect of flavonoid-rich chocolate on arterial stiffness and Doppler blood flow velocimetry indexes in pregnant women with compromised uteroplacental blood flow. METHODS: Doppler blood flow velocimetry and digital pulse wave analysis (DPA) were performed in 25 women pregnant in the second and third trimesters with uterine artery (UtA) score (UAS) 3-4, before and after 3 days of ingestion of chocolate with high flavonoid and antioxidant contents...

The objective of the study is to investigate the clinical features of Behçet's disease (BD) complicated with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). We retrospectively analyzed the clinical features of age- and gender-matched BD patients with and without CVST. Of the 840 BD patients enrolled, 21 (2.5%, 11 female, mean age 30.3 ± 9.5) were diagnosed as CVST. Eighteen patients (85.7%) developed neurologic manifestations after BD onset, with an average interval of 47.6 months (SD 36.1). Onset of neurologic symptoms was mostly progressive (89...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the viability and integrity of fresh frozen bulk femoral head allografts obtained from the institutional bone bank that were used to reconstruct severe acetabular defects and to validate the SPECT/CT method which gives both anatomical and functional data for this purpose. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 9 patients (6 female, 3 male; mean age 63.6 years). Preoperative and postoperative leg lengths, existence of the Trendelenburg sign, range of motion of the hip, visual analogue score (VAS), Harris Hip Score (HHS) and any complication were assesed at each follow-up...