Surgical outcomes for carotid body tumour resection without preoperative embolization: a 10-year experience.

Background: Carotid body tumours (CBTs) are neoplasms originating from the paraganglionic cells of the carotid body. Excision is the main route of treatment. This study sought to assess the surgical outcomes of post-carotid body tumour resection without preoperative embolization and discern any underlying relationships between modified Shamblin classes (MSC) and related complications. Methods: A retrospective medical record review of prospectively collected data is performed at Sulaymaniyah Teaching Hospital between 2008 and 2019, for 54 patients. Presurgical and postsurgical variables such as comorbidities and complications were noted, respectively. Results: Patient ages ranged between 26 and 60 years (x̄=40.06) with a minimal female predominance (57.4%). Complications included one minor stroke. MSC and postoperative complications were significantly related (P≤0.001). Our analyses also suggested a significant relationship between intraoperative blood loss and the incidence of postoperative complications (P=0.001, χ²=25). The MSC III subtype was significantly associated with intraoperative blood loss (P=0.000), length of stay (P=0.000), and operating time (P=0.001). Conclusions: Our study purports a strong relationship between greater MSC and complications of all types. As such, surgeons may benefit from preoperative strategies to minimize complications.

Importance of Pre-Procedure Counselling in Patients Undergoing Flexible Bronchoscopy.

Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is performed very frequently in pulmonology and cardiothoracic services where the patients are most critically ill. This study aims to assess the degree of satisfaction, duration, and level of cooperativeness among patients undergoing flexible bronchoscopy. A quasi-experimental study with 128 flexible bronchoscopy patients was carried out with two groups of patients (control and study group). All the steps of the procedure were discussed with the patient. The anxiety level score, patient satisfaction, cooperation, and duration of the procedure were assessed in both groups. A total of 128 patients were included. They were divided into two groups (study group and control group). In both groups, the majority were illiterate: study group 40 (62.5%), and control group 41 (64.1%). The hospital anxiety scale was statistically better in the study group than in the control group (p-value of 0.0001). The patients' satisfaction rate in the study groups was significantly higher (p-value 0.001, chi-square test 120.508). The duration of the procedure was significantly shorter in the study group (Mean ± SD 4.45, 1.381 min). Patients with better knowledge of bronchoscopy were more comfortable with the procedure and the duration of the procedure was significantly shorter. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-023-03767-5.

Outcomes of Popliteal Endarterectomy and Infrapopliteal Angioplasty for Short Atherosclerotic Popliteal Artery Occlusion: Single-Center Case Series.

BACKGROUND: Localized popliteal artery occlusion (LPAO) is a rare entity with a challenging therapy. In selected patients, open popliteal endarterectomy (OPE) with infrapopliteal balloon angioplasty (IPA) can be limb-saving. The aim of this retrospective study from Iraq-Kurdistan is to assess the procedure outcomes. METHODS: Over 5 years, ending at 2020, 28 patients with atherosclerotic LPAO unsuitable for femoropopliteal bypass or endovascular intervention received OPE + IPA through a medial approach under spinal anesthesia. Perioperative data were obtained from patients' records and entered into an Access database. Results were retrieved and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: There were 18 (64.3%) males. The mean age was 66.4 ± 6.53 years (range 52-79 years). Seventy five percent of patients had obesity, diabetes mellitus, and smoking. Twenty six (92.9%) of patients were in Rutherford category 5 and 6 with an ankle-brachial index < 0.40. Popliteal and pedal pulses were absent in 23 of 24 (95.8%) patients. Doppler ultrasound showed a good distal runoff in 1 (3.6%) patient. Computed tomography angiography revealed 20 (71.4%) femoropopliteal and 16 (57.1%) infrapopliteal lesions of types A and B as per Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus II document. Mean endarterectomy length was 5.1 cm (range 3-7), patched with a vein in (17, 60.7%) and primarily closed in (11, 39.3%) patients. Early complications were none in (18, 64.3%) patients whereas 1 leg was amputated on day 30. On average, follow-up lasted 3.4 years. Twenty seven (96.4%) vessels remained patent and 2 (7.1%) patients died. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirms safety and efficacy of OPE + IPA for selected patients with critical limb ischemia due to LPAO.

Non-randomized comparative study of three methods for great saphenous vein ablation associated with mini-phlebectomy; 48 months clinical and sonographic outcome.

Background: Varicose veins are one of the earliest clinical features of superficial venous insufficiency (SVI) of the lower limbs that affects around 20-40% of the population with a lot of burden on patients' quality of life (QoL) and health systems if left untreated. They are defined as subcutaneous veins in the lower extremities which are dilated to ≥3 mm in diameter in the upright position and retrograde flow of >0.5 s in duration. (VVs) could occur in the great saphenous vein (GSV) or small saphenous vein (SSV) and/or in any of their tributaries. Methods: A prospective non-randomized comparative study for three methods of treatment of varicose veins was conducted. All symptomatic varicose veins with Clinical, Etiological, Anatomical, Pathophysiological (CEAP) Clinical classes of 2 or greater and demonstrated venous reflux with a duration of 0.5 s or greater on duplex ultrasound imaging GSV larger than 10 mm in diameter by duplex ultrasound were included. Results: A total of 150 patients with 183 legs in all three groups are treated. The mean age of the patients in all groups was comparable (37.32) years, and a total of 87% were women. Demographic and preoperative clinical features, presentations, and anatomic characteristics were comparable in all groups. Disfigurement was the main presenting complaint in all. All postoperative complications were significantly higher in the group of surgery over 48 months of follow up the degree of satisfaction measured by VCSS score was highest among the RFA group followed by the EVLA group. Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that the long-term results of endovenous thermal ablation methods (EVLA, RFA) are superior to open surgery for the management of varicose veins, with the RFA group showing better results in terms of improvement in QoL based on VCSS compared to the EVLA group.

Five-year outcome of non-shunting and primary closure technique during carotid endarterectomy: a longitudinal cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: The long-term outcomes of primary carotid artery closure after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) have not been sufficiently studied. This prospective study was performed to analyze the 5-year outcomes of the non-shunting and primary arterial repair technique for CEA. METHODS: This study involved 150 patients who underwent CEA with the primary arterial closure technique without arterial shunting and completed 5 years of follow-up. RESULTS: The patients comprised 107 men and 43 women. The 30-day postoperative course was uneventful in 147 (98.0%) patients; however, cerebrovascular accidents occurred in 3 (2.0%) patients. With respect to the long-term results, most cases of restenosis at 5 years were <50%. Two patients developed asymptomatic total internal carotid artery occlusion. Eleven deaths occurred (mortality rate of 7.3%); one death (0.7%) occurred in the first 30 days. CONCLUSION: Primary arteriotomy closure provides very good long-term patency. Routine use of patch closure is unnecessary.

Large vessel thrombosis in patient with COVID-19, a case series.

INTRODUCTION: Involvement of the large vessels is rarely reported and poorly understood in cases of Corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19). The aim of this study is to present a series of cases with large vessel thrombosis (LVT). METHODS: This is a multicenter prospective case series study. The participants were consecutive in order. All the patients were diagnosed as cases of COVID-19 with documented LVT were included in the study. Large vessels were defined as any vessel equal or larger than popliteal artery. The mean duration of follow up was 4 months. RESULTS: The study included 22 cases, 19 (86.4%) cases were male, 3 (13.6%) patients were females. The age ranged from 23 to 76 with a mean of 48.4 years. Four (18.2%) cases had pulmonary embolism confirmed by IV contrast enhanced chest CT scan. All of the cases showed pulmonary parenchymal ground glass opacities (GGO) and high D-Dimers (ranging from 1267 to 6038 ng/ml with a mean of 3601 ng/ml). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 is a hidden risk factor of LVT that may endanger the patient's life and lead to major amputation. Despite therapeutic anticoagulants still all COVID-19 patients are at risk for LVT, a high index of suspicion should be created and with minimal symptoms surgical consultation should be obtained.

Metachronous recurrent pediatric primary spontaneous pneumothorax: A case presentation and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is defined as the presence of air in the pleural cavity without underlying lung disease or thoracic trauma. Metachronous recurrence of PSP whether ipsilateral or contralateral is rare. Apical bullae and sub-pleural blebs are found in the majority of PSP patients. As in adults, surgery is indicated in cases with prolonged air leak. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is increasingly performed in children and has been reported to be both safe and effective. PRESENTATION OF THE CASE: An 11-years-old girl had bilateral attacks of PSP, the second attack happened one after the first one and this later was associated with her menarche. Chest CT scan detected bilateral apical blebs. DISCUSSION: Contralateral recurrence in pediatric PSP is a low probability. The decision for surgery in the pediatric age group is a matter of controversy as there are no strict pediatric guidelines for management of PSP. Currently, VATS is superior to open surgery. Pediatric Catamenial pneumothorax is not well described in the literature. CONCLUSIONS: Contralateral recurrence of PSP in children is rarer. No guidelines exist for the management of these cases. The association of pediatric PSP with menarche is not well described in the current literature.

Pediatric Thoracic Empyema-Outcomes of Intrapleural Thrombolytics: Ten Years of Experience.

Introduction. Pediatric thoracic empyema is a special entity with increasing frequency. Consensus regarding the best management strategy is still evolving. We describe our single-center 10-year experience adopting intrapleural thrombolytics using tissue plasminogen activator as first-line treatment following failure of simple thoracostomy drainage techniques. Methods. Observational prospective study included all children from 1 day to 18 years admitted for parapneumonic effusion and treated with intrapleural thrombolytics. Results. From January 2008 to December 2018, 95 patients were treated by intrapleural thrombolytics for different stages of empyema thoracis. Number of thrombolytic doses required is 2.1 (range = 1-3), and mean amount of drainage is 1050 mL (range = 400-2500 mL). Mean total days of hospitalization is 7.3 days. Complete re-expansion was the primary outcome in 94 patients (98.9%). Conclusion. Intrapleural thrombolytics in complicated pediatric thoracic empyema results in excellent outcome and should be encouraged particularly in limited resource countries.

Trans-thoracic versus trans-hiatal resection for oesophageal carcinoma: a retrospective comparative study of a single-centre case series.

Background: Oesophageal carcinoma (EC) is the eighth most common cancer. Surgery is the cornerstone of management for resectable EC. Trans-thoracic oesophagectomy (TTE) and trans-hiatal oesophagectomy (THE) are the two most widely practised procedures. Most of the related controversies are centred on both early and late post-operative complications and mortality (in terms of overall survival and cancer-free survival).This was a single-centre, retrospective, comparative study analysing the outcomes of two EC resection methods. All 87 patients underwent surgery by the same surgical team over 13 years. Consequently, 87 oesophagectomies with curative intent were performed and divided into the TTE group (group A = 47) and the THE group (group B = 40). Results: The mean patient age was 65.60 ± 6.30 years in the TTE group and 63.48 ± 9.34 years in the THE group. No significant difference was found in operative time, blood loss or duration of stay in the intensive care unit. The duration of hospital stay was significantly different between the THE and TTE groups (17.25 ± 5.92 vs. 12.93 ± 3.44, respectively; P ≤ 0.001). In-hospital mortality was higher in the TTE group (9/47, 19.14%) than in the THE group (5/40, 12.5%) (P = 0.400). The mean survival rate from our series showed the superiority of group A (TTE) (65.56 months) over group B (THE) (45.01 months), with P = 0.146. Conclusion: No high level of evidence suggests the superiority of one surgical procedure over another. The THE procedure is less time-consuming concerning care and follow-up, and most patients were more satisfied and experienced less pain than with the TTE procedure. Both THE and TTE have comparable post-operative anastomotic complications, and they have no significant long-term survival differences.

Diaphragmatic lipoma; A benign condition necessitating an aggressive management.

INTRODUCTION: Primary diaphragmatic lipoma (PDL) is a very rare condition. The aim of this paper is to report a case of diaphragmatic lipoma presenting as a case of diaphratmatic hernia with a brief literature review. A 73-year-old female presented with chronic dry cough for three month duration. The patient was stable, there was no significant finding on general, chest and abdominal examination. Chest-x-ray showed vague shadow above the left dome of the diaphragm. Computed tomography scan (CT scan) of the chest revealed a round mass with features consistent with either diaphragmatic hernia or malignancy. The patient underwent resection under general anesthesia and histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of PDL. CONCLUSION: Although PDL is a benign condition, in most of the time, it needs aggressive management because of the possibility of malignancy or other critical diseases.

Bilateral thoracic trauma; presentation and management, a case series.

INTRODUCTION: Unilateral chest trauma has been perfectly described in the literature while bilateral chest trauma has never been specifically probed, the aim of this study is to highlight the specificities, presentations, the difference in the therapeutic algorithm and outcome of patients with bilateral thoracic trauma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A single center, prospective study was carried out in four years. The data were taken directly from the patients, patient's relatives and the medical records. All patients presenting with bilateral chest trauma, admitted to the hospital overnight, were included in this study. The patients were managed according to the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) protocol which consists of primary and secondary surveys. For those patients who diagnosed to have either haemo or pneumothorax or both, thoracostomy tube was inserted. Descriptive and analytical analyses were calculated. RESULTS: The study included 107 patients. Bilateral blunt trauma was found in 72 (67.3%) cases while bilateral penetrating trauma was found in 35 (32.7%) patients. The most common mechanism of trauma was road traffic accidents (RTA) accounting for 68 (63.6%) victims. Overall 30-day mortality was 14.9%. In blunt trauma, 3 or more rib fracture, pulmonary contusion, intubation, and intensive care unit admission were among the predictors of increased risk of mortality. CONCLUSION: Bilateral thoracic trauma has comparable patterns of presentation, choices of investigation, strategies of management, predictors of the outcome, morbidity and mortality with unilateral chest trauma.