[Surgical policy of managing patients with concomitant atherosclerotic lesions of the internal and common carotid arteries]. / Khirurgicheskaia taktika vedeniia bol'nykh pri sochetannom ateroskleroticheskom porazhenii vnutrennei i obshchei sonnykh arterii.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to investigate the natural course of stenosis of the common carotid artery (CCA) after carotid endarterectomy, as well as the long-term outcomes of various methods of reconstruction of the internal carotid artery (ICA) in patients with extended atherosclerotic lesions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Presented herein are the remote retrospective and prospective results of carotid endarterectomy in a total of 78 patients with concomitant atherosclerotic lesions of carotid arteries. Depending on the degree of CCA stenosis, the patients were divided into 2 groups. Group One (n=25): stenosis of the internal carotid artery (ICA) of more than 70% and haemodynamically insignificant (30-35% stenosis) but extended (from 3.0 to 5.0 cm (Q1, Me, Q3); 3.5 cm, 4.0 cm, 5.0 cm) stenosis of the CCA. These patients underwent carotid endarterectomy (CEA) from the ostium of the ICA, during which an atherosclerotic plaque was not completely removed from the CCA because the stenosis was extended but haemodynamically insignificant. Group Two (n=53): stenosis of the ICA of more than 70% and haemodynamically significant, extended (from 7.0 to 10.0 cm (Q1, Me, Q3); 7.5 cm, 8.0 cm, 9.0 cm) stenosis of the CCA. The patients of this group were subjected to various methods of operative intervention on the ICA and CCA: carotid endarterectomy (ECA) combined with open endarterectomy from the CCA with plasty using the primary suture (n=23); carotid endarterectomy and alloreconstruction of the CCA (n=10); simultaneous eversion endarterectomy from the ICA and CCA (n=20). The remote period of follow up of patients ranged from 14 to 24 months ((Q1, Me, Q3; 19 months, 22 months, 24 months). The differences were statistically insignificant (Mann-Whitney U-test, p=0.881). RESULTS: In the remote postoperative period, 32% of Group One patients after previously performed carotid endarterectomy were found to have an increase in the degree of stenosis of the CCA up to a haemodynamically significant one (70% and more), thus suggesting progression of the atherosclerotic process. In Group Two patients, after plasty of the CCA with the primary suture, 21.7% of patients were diagnosed as having restenosis of the reconstruction zone up to 30%, with no neurological deficit. 20% of patients after carotid endarterectomy and alloreconstruction of the CCA were diagnosed as having restenosis of the reconstruction zone more than 70% and acute impairment of cerebral circulation with a lethal outcome. The patients after simultaneous eversion endarterectomy form the ICA and CCA in the intraoperative and postoperative periods had neither restenosis of the reconstruction zone nor neurological deficit. CONCLUSION: 32% of patients after previously performed carotid endarterectomy with the presence of extended, but haemodynamically insignificant stenosis of the CCA (30-35% stenosis) in the postoperative period were found to have progression of the atherosclerotic lesion in the form of an increased degree of stenosis up to haemodynamically significant (more than 70%), thus requiring repeat reconstructive operation. Therefore, in patients presenting with concomitant atherosclerotic lesions of the carotid arteries it is appropriate to carry out operative intervention simultaneously on the ICA and CCA, which would make it possible to considerably improve the remote postoperative results of reconstructive interventions on the carotid basin in this cohort of patients. A comparative study of the outcomes of various methods of reconstruction of carotid arteries in patients with concomitant atherosclerotic lesions of the ICA and CCA demonstrated that simultaneous eversion endarterectomy from the ICA and CCA resulted in good postoperative parameters: absence of restenosis and neurological deficit in the remote period of follow up.

[Remote results of carotid endarterectomy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus]. / Otdalennye rezul'taty karotidnoi éndarteréktomii u bol'nykh s sakharnym diabetom II tipa.

The authors comparatively analysed the remote results of carotid endarterectomy and risk factors for unfavourable outcomes in patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The outcomes of carotid endarterectomy were studied in a total of 168 patients, with the follow-up terms up to 8 years. Depending on the presence or absence of DM, the patients were divided into two groups. Group One comprised 79 patients with an atherosclerotic lesion of the internal carotid artery and accompanying DM, with Group Two consisting of 89 non-diabetic patients. There were no lethal outcomes in the early postoperative period. The composite measure 'lethality + stroke' in Group One amounted to 2.5% and in Group Two to 2.2%. In the remote period the survival rate was as follows: 65 (82.3%) people for Group One and 83 (93.3%) for Group Two, with the 5-year cumulative survival rate amounting to 75.1±6.4% and 92.5±3.0%, respectively. The index of freedom from acute vascular complications (myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke) at 5 years in Group One was 54.2±7.2% and in Group Two 86.1±4.3%. Acute vascular complications were causes of lethal outcomes in 13 cases in the group with DM and in 3 cases in the group without DM. Death was most often caused by acute coronary complications. The index of freedom from restenosis at 5 years in Group One amounted to 74.5±8.0% and at 7 years of follow-up in Group Two to 92.3±7.3%. The risk factors for the development of acute vascular complications in diabetic patients according to the findings of the Cox regression analysis were as follows: age above 65 years, DM duration of more than 5 years; the level of glycated haemoglobin above 7.5%; a history of myocardial infarction; presence of degree III arterial hypertension. The risk factors for restenosis included: DM duration of more than 5 years, the level of glycated haemoglobin above 7.5% and presence of degree III arterial hypertension. The results of the study make it possible to regard carotid endarterectomy efficient and safe for both cohorts of patients (with and without DM). In the remote postoperative period, such parameters as survival rate, indices of freedom from acute vascular complications and restenosis turned out to be statistically significantly lower in diabetic patients than in non-diabetic, with the predominating coronary complications induced by insufficient assessment of the coronary reserve and the presence of occult forms of ischaemic heart disease. Long-term results may be improved by means of widening the indications for performing coronarography in patients with DM.

[Laboratory diagnosis of systemic chlamydiosis]. / Osobennosti laboratornoi diagnostiki khlamidiozov s sistemnymi proiavleniiami.

Modern methods for diagnosis of chlamydial infection are compared. In order to detect the total systems' manifestations in patients with chlamydial infection, the authors suggest to extend the list of clinical materials to be collected in patients with suspected chlamydial infection and to use direct immunofluorescent test, polymerase chain reaction, and ligase chain reaction in diagnostic studies.