Carbon dioxide-angiography for patients with peripheral arterial disease at risk of contrast-induced nephropathy.

Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and critical limb ischemia are at risk for limb amputation and require urgent management to restore blood flow. Patients with PAD often have several comorbidities, including chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Diagnostic and interventional angiography using iodinated contrast agents provides excellent image resolution but can be associated with contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a contrast agent reduces the volume of iodine contrast required for angiography and reduces the incidence of CIN. However, CO2 angiography has been underutilized due to concerns regarding safety and image quality. Modern CO2 delivery systems with advanced digital subtraction angiography techniques and hybrid angiography have improved imaging accuracy and reduced the incidence of CIN. Awareness of the need for optimal imaging conditions, contraindications, and potential complications have improved the safety of CO2 angiography. This review aims to highlight current technological advances in the delivery of CO2 in vascular angiography for patients with PAD and critical limb ischemia, which result in limb preservation while preventing kidney damage.

Successful treatment of mucormycosis peritonitis with liposomal amphotericin B in a patient on long-term peritoneal dialysis.

A 42-year-old man, with a history of immunoglobulin A nephropathy, underwent a living-related kidney transplant. Allograft function progressively deteriorated secondary to chronic rejection and recurrence of IgA nephropathy, and he returned to peritoneal dialysis after 5 years of the transplant. Fifteen months after the discontinuation of immunosuppressive therapy, Eschericia coli peritonitis developed, which was treated with ceftazidime intraperitoneally; he received fluconazole as prophylactic antifungal therapy during this period. After completing his course of treatment, abdominal pain occurred with an increased peritoneal fluid white blood cell count. Peritoneal fluid cultures were negative. He received broad-spectrum antibiotics and fluconazole with no appreciable response. After removal of the Tenckoff catheter, peritoneal fluid cultures grew a zygomycete. The patient was treated with liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome) intravenously for 6 weeks. He had episodes of recurrent intraabdominal abscesses requiring surgical drainage and antibiotics. A second course of liposomal amphotericin B was administered for histopathologic evidence of filamentous fungal recurrence. After 5 months, the patient remains well without any evidence of infection.