The Effect of Vacuum-Assisted Closure Therapy on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Wound Biofilms.

Biofilm-associated wound infections are a major global health issue, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the greatest therapeutic challenges. Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) therapy is now being revisited as an alternative treatment for both acute and chronic wounds. However, data supporting the concept of its antibiofilm effect remain limited. Using quantitative biofilm-forming assay and a range of genotypic methods (spa, SCCmec, and agr typing), study authors showed that VAC therapy can significantly prevent biofilm formation (P < .01) of a range of MRSA wound isolates differing widely in their biofilm-forming abilities and genetic background. The best effect was presented on CC5-MRSA-SCCmecI-agrII, a dominant MRSA clone among wound isolates worldwide. An assessment of effects of different protocols on dressing changes (1 or 2 times per week) demonstrated significantly greater antibiofilm activity (P < .05) of 3-day dressing changes. These findings support the use of VAC therapy as a topical antibiofilm treatment for the effective management of wound healing.

Negative-pressure wound therapy for deep groin vascular infections.

Introduction: Infection of synthetic graft in the groin is a rare but devastating complication. When it occurs, several possibilities of treatment are available. Extra-anatomic reconstruction and in-situ implantation of new, infection resistant grafts are associated with high mortality and morbidity. Therefore, more conservative approach is needed in some cases. Negative-pressure wound therapy is one of the options in treating such patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the outcome for deep groin vascular graft infection treated with negative-pressure wound therapy. Methods: Seventeen patients (19 wounds), treated for Szilagyi grade III groin infections between October 2011 and June 2014, were enrolled into this observational study. Results: Majority of the wounds (11/19) were healed by secondary intention, and the rest of the wounds (8/19) were healed by primary intention after initial negative-pressure wound therapy and graft substitution with silver-coated prostheses or autologous artery/vein implantation. No early mortality was observed. Minor bleeding was observed in one patient. Reinfection was noted in three wounds. Only one graft occlusion was noted. Late mortality was observed in three patients. Conclusion: Negative-pressure wound therapy seems to be safe for groin vascular graft infections and comfortable for both patient and surgeon. However, the rate of persistent infection is high. This technique, in our opinion, can be used as a "bridge" from initial wound debridement to definitive wound management, when good local conditions are achieved for graft substitution, either with new synthetic graft with antimicrobial properties or autologous artery/vein. In selected cases of deep groin infections it can be used as the only therapeutic approach in wound treatment.

Is It Possible That This Patient is Asymptomatic? The Role of Multidetector CT Angiography in Detection of Ulcerated Plaques in Patients with Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis: Case Report.

INTRODUCTION: Although intervention in patients with symptomatic carotid disease is generally accepted as beneficial, the management of asymptomatic disease is still controversial. We wanted to introduce and discuss treatment options in a patient with asymptomatic carotid stenosis and high embolic potential lesions of common and internal carotid artery detected by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). CASE OUTLINE: A 78-year-old female patient was admitted to our institution for diagnostics and surgical treatment of asymptomatic high-grade carotid stenosis. Upon admission, color duplex ultrasonography of the carotid arteries revealed the left common carotid artery (CCA) stenosis of 50% and the ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis of 60%, while the right CCA was narrowed by 60% and the ipsilateral ICA by 80%. Because of the left subclavian artery (LSA) occlusion, also described by ultrasonography, MDCT angiography was performed to assess arterial morphology for possible angioplasty. In addition to LSA occlusion, MDCT angiography surprisingly revealed significant left CCA (>80%) and ICA (>70%) narrowing by ulcerated plaques with high embolic potential. Surgical treatment of the left CCA and ICA was indicated and Dacron® tubular graft interposition was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged from the Institute on the third postoperative day. After the six-month follow-up the patient was doing well with well-preserved graft patency. Conclusion Although color duplex ultrasonography is reliable and safe imaging modality in carotid stenosis diagnosis, MDCT angiography plays a significant role in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis since plaques with high embolic potential could be detected, which, if left untreated, could have severe neurological ischemic consequences.

Treatment of infected pseudoaneurysm of femoral artery after vascular closure device deployment: a practical solution.

Like other invasive procedures, percutaneous coronary interventions are associated with complications. Most common access site for these procedures is common femoral artery. Complications such as groin and retroperitoneal hematoma can be encountered as well as pseudoaneurysms, arteriovenous fistulas, acute arterial occlusion, and infection. When infected pseudoaneurysm occurs, surgical treatment can be extremely difficult. We present a case of the patient in whom infected pseudoaneurysm of common femoral artery developed after percutaneous coronary intervention and was successfully treated by surgical excision and autoarterial graft insertion.

[Non-inflammatory aortoiliac aneurysm with ureteral obstruction and consequent hydronephrosis: case report].

INTRODUCTION: The natural course of abdominal aneurysms is progressive expansion, rupture, embolisation, thrombosis and compression of the visceral organs. The majority of papers report that inflammatory aortic and iliac aneurysms are associated with perianeurysmal and retroperitoneal fibrosis that ultimately results in the structural compromise of the urinary tract. Ureteral obstruction occurs in 20% to 71% of cases and approximately one half of these patients will present with obstructive uropathy. Most patients with inflammatory aneurysm are symptomatic, with elevated serum inflammatory markers, and characteristic multislice CT findings including a thickened aortic wall and a mass of periaortic inflammatory tissue. CASE OUTLINE: A 70-year-old man was admitted at the Vascular Surgery Clinic "Dedinje", Belgrade, because of ultrasonically verified asymptomatic aortoiliac aneurysm. Multisclice CT findings showed left urethral dilatation and hydronephrosis secondary to extrinsic ureteral obstruction due to aortoiliac aneurysm. CT findings, laboratory tests and finally, histopathologic examination showed atherosclerotic aneurysm without inflammation and retroperitoneal fibrosis. The patient was successfully treated with surgical resection of the aneurysm and aortobiliac reconstruction with "Y" prosthesis. CONCLUSION: We present a rare case of ureteral obstruction secondary to atherosclerotic aneurysm which, to our knowledge, has not been previously described in the domestic literature. A successful operative repair was performed. Postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the seventh day after the surgery with normal vascular status and renal function.

Distribution of risk factors in patients with premature coronary, supra-aortic branches and peripheral atherosclerotic disease.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of major risk factors among patients with atherosclerotic disease aged ≤50 years. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study population comprised 944 patients aged ≤50 years with clinically significant manifestations of atherosclerotic disease compared with 350 consecutive (control) older patients (age >50 years). RESULTS: The most significant risk factors for atherosclerotic disease of the supra-aortic branches were: smoking (87.5%, p < 0.001), family history of atherosclerosis (52.3%, p < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (28.5%) and being male (56.9%) (p < 0.05 for both). In patients with coronary artery disease, there was considerable disparity in the prevalence of smoking (85.4%), hyperlipoproteinemia (67.4%), and family history of atherosclerosis (68%) (p < 0.001). For peripheral artery disease, the most significant risk factors were smoking (97%, p < 0.001), hyperlipidemia (p < 0.01), and family history of atherosclerotic disease (p < 0.01). When compared to controls, patients with premature atherosclerosis smoked more frequently, had hyperlipidemia, had a family history of atherosclerosis, and were more frequently of male sex. CONCLUSION: Premature atherosclerosis was most frequently associated with smoking, hyperlipidemia, family history of atherosclerotic disease, and male sex.

[Silver-coated dacron prosthesis in the treatment of infection in arterial surgery: case reports].

INTRODUCTION: Although the incidence is low, infection of prosthetic vascular graft bears a high incidence of serious complications including 25-75% mortality rate and 40-75% limb loss. The standard treatment of vascular graft infection consists of excision of the prosthesis, wound debridement and extraanatomic revascularization. Conservative treatment might be an option in a limited number of patients. We present three cases of surgical and conservative treatment of vascular graft infection. CASE OUTLINE: Case 1: A patient developed silver-coated graft infection after femorodistal arterial reconstruction performed because of critical limb ischemia. In the early postoperative period, massive skin and subcutaneous tissue necrosis developed, with the graft being exposed. After two months of persistent debridement and wound toilette, the defect was covered with aThiersch skin graft. Case 2: PTFE graft infection in the right groin followed reconstruction of the isolated common femoral artery aneurysm. This graft was replaced with a silver-coated graft in situ. Reinfection of the proximal end of the implanted silver-coated graft occurred and the graft was exposed. After repeated debridement and wound toilette, the exposed prosthesis was covered with granulomatous tissue, and the wound healed. Case 3: A year after anastomotic pseudoaneurysm resection in the left groin, prosthesis was exposed following wound infection. This graft was substituted with a silver-coated graft in situ. The wound healed primarily. CONCLUSION: These three cases demonstrate that under some circumstances vascular prosthesis infection can be successfully treated conservatively without graft removal, and also by in situ replacement using silver-coated graft.

[Historical overview of carotid artery surgical treatment].

Since antiquity, there has been a mystery about the cerebral circulation function. Scientific methods were introduced in research at the end of the nineteenth century. During the first half of the last century, the problem of occlusive carotid disease was defined and the basis for the surgical treatment of carotid disease was established. The first contemporary reconstructive surgical procedures were performed in the middle of the last century, the time when successful surgical treatment of carotid disease began. Today, carotid endarterectomy is one the most frequently performed vascular surgical procedures of all, followed by very low morbidity and mortality rates.

Temporal trends in eversion carotid endarterectomy for carotid atherosclerosis: single-center experience with 5,034 patients.

The aim of this article is to review our experience in surgical treatment of carotid atherosclerosis using eversion carotid endarterectomy (ECEA) in 5,034 patients, with particular attention to temporal changes in patients' characteristics, diagnostic approach, surgical technique, medical therapy, and outcome in the early (group A, 1991-1997) versus late (group B 1998-2004) period of ECEA. From January 1991 to December 2004, 5,034 primary ECEAs were performed for high-grade carotid stenosis. Patients treated for restenosis after previous carotid surgery were excluded from the analysis. Group A consisted of 1,714 patients who underwent surgery between 1991 and 1997, and group B consisted of 3,320 patients who underwent surgery between 1998 and 2004. Follow-up included routine clinical evaluation and noninvasive surveillance, with duplex scanning at 1 month after surgery, after 6 months, and annually afterward. Only 3% of patients in group A and 0.6% in group B were asymptomatic, with 23% and 47% of them having preoperative stroke, respectively. In group A, angiography was used for the final diagnosis in 78% of patients. In group B, duplex scanning was performed in 82% of patients and angiography in only 18% (p < .001). Clamping time was shorter in the latter group (12.4 +/- 3.1 vs 14.5 +/- 4.1 min, p < .01). Introperative shunting and regional anesthesia were rarely performed in both groups (1.4% vs. 0.4%, p < .01, and 2% vs 0.3%, p < .001). Total and neurologic morbidity was significantly higher in group A than in group B (6.41% +/- 0.47% vs 4.81% +/- 0.53%, p < .001, and 2.14% +/- 0.31% vs 1.23% +/- 0.29%, p < .001, respectively). Total mortality was also higher in group A than in group B (1.92% +/- 0.24% vs 1.36% +/- 0.50%, p < .05), but although there was a trend toward lower neurologic mortality, it did not reach statistical significance (1.04% +/- 0.5% vs 0.57% +/- 0.25%, p = .074). There was a lower rate of nonsignificant restenosis (< 50%) in group B (2% vs 5%, p < .01), but the incidence of restenosis > or = 50% was identical between the groups (5.5% for both). Our data show that ECEA is a reliable surgical technique for the treatment of atherosclerotic carotid disease. Temporal trends in our patients demonstrated a decline in periopertive mortality and morbidity, despite a higher incidence of preoperative stroke.