Efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization on lesion reduction in colorectal liver metastases.

Following failure of systemic chemotherapy, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is an available method to control unresectable liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma (CRC). The aim of present study was to evaluate the efficacy of chemoembolization for inoperable metastatic liver lesions from CRC. Forty-five CRC patients with liver metastases resistant to systemic chemotherapy were enrolled in our study. For each patient, three session of TACE were conducted with 45 days interval. A combination of mitomycin, doxorubicin, and lipiodol were used for TACE. A tri-phasic computed tomography scan and biochemical laboratory tests were performed for all patients at baseline and 30 days after each TACE. Image analysis included measurement of lesion diameters as well as contrast enhancement. Eleven patients deceased before completing three session and the final analyses were performed on the remaining 34 patients. Evaluation of a total 93 lesions in all patients after chemoembolization sessions revealed a 25.88% reduction in anteroposterior (AP) diameter, 33.92% transverse (T) diameter, and 42.22% in product of APxT diameter of lesions (P<0.001 for all instances). CT scan showed a total disappearance of 33% of lesions and evident reduction in contrast enhancement in 16% of them. There were no changes in contrast enhancement in 51% of lesions. Evaluation of single largest lesion in each patient revealed 57.32% reduction in AP diameter, 59.66% in T diameter, and 62.17% in product of APxT diameters (P<0.001 for all diameters). TACE offers a viable option for CRC patients with unresectable liver metastases by significantly reducing lesion size and contrast enhancement.

Coronary graft patency after perioperative myocardial infarction: a study with multislice computed tomography.

A total of 55 consecutive patients who experienced perioperative myocardial infarction (MI) after coronary artery bypass grafting were studied using multislice computed tomography (MSCT) angiography to evaluate for graft patency. The MSCT detected acute graft occlusion in 23% grafts. Of the 55 patients, 40% patients had occluded grafts and perioperative MI in the area of the grafted vessels; remaining 60% had patent grafts with infarction in the area of the grafted vessels. Compared with the patients with patent grafts, those with occluded grafts had a higher blood sugar level. In addition, graft occlusion was higher in grafts with severe distal disease. Among the patients with patent grafts, luminal stenosis of the native vessels supplying the infarcted myocardium was higher than that in the native vessels supplying the non-infarcted myocardium. In conclusion, MSCT is feasible for the assessment of graft patency in the setting of perioperative MI. Graft occlusion is detected in less than half of the cases and usually occurs in the grafts with severe distal involvement and the patients with uncontrolled hyperglycemia. In patients with patent grafts, the severity of luminal stenosis of the native grafted vessel is the main predisposing factor for perioperative MI.

Predictors of early graft patency following coronary artery bypass surgery.

BACKGROUND: The long-term success of coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is dependent on graft patency after the operation. Early occlusion (within the first week) affects the long-term results. Therefore, we sought to determine pre-operative, intraoperative, and perioperative factors associated with early coronary graft patency. METHODS: Between March 2007 and March 2008, 107 consecutive patients (81 men, 26 women, mean age 60 +/- 9 years) who underwent CABG were included in this study. The enrolled patients underwent 16-slice computed tomography angiography one week after CABG. RESULTS: Based on the multislice computed tomography, acute graft occlusion was detected in 32 (8.7% of all) grafts, including 26 of 250 (10%) in venous grafts and 6 of 116 (5%) in arterial grafts. In univariate analysis, patients with patent coronary grafts had a lower serum glucose level (119 +/- 30 vs. 141 +/- 65 mg/dL, p = 0.02) and longer partial thromboplastin time (34 +/- 11 vs. 30 +/- 2 s, p = = 0.04). In addition, pump time was significantly longer in patients with occluded grafts than in those with patent grafts (119 +/- 43 vs. 102 +/- 32 min, p = 0.04). Those with longer pump time required more coronary grafts (pump time > or = 120 min for 3.5 grafts vs. pump time < 120 min for 2.9 grafts, p = 0.02). Of the multiple pre-operative, intraoperative, and perioperative characteristics of the patients who underwent successful CABG, serum glucose level (OR: 2.014, 95% CI: 1.002-3.026, p = 0.002) and pump time < two hours (OR: 1.502, 95% CI: 1.001-2.030, p = 0.003) were the only predictors of coronary graft patency seven days after surgery in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that the patients with successful CABG and patent coronary grafts within the first week after surgery had optimal blood glucose control and pump time < two hours.

Evaluation of early coronary graft patency after coronary artery bypass graft surgery using multislice computed tomography angiography.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is the standard of care in the treatment of advanced coronary artery disease, and its long-term results are affected by the failure of bypass grafts. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the early patency rate in coronary bypass grafts. METHODS: A total of 107 consecutive patients who underwent CABG were included in this study. Early graft patency was evaluated via computed tomography (CT) angiography in the first week after surgery. RESULTS: There were a total of 366 grafts, comprised of 250 venous grafts and 116 arterial grafts. Multi-slice CT detected acute graft occlusions in 32 (8.7%) of all the grafts, including 26 (10%) of the 250 venous grafts and 6 (5%) of the 116 arterial grafts. The patency rates obtained were 97.3% for the left internal mammary (IMA) grafts, 50% for the radial artery grafts, and 50% for the right IMA grafts. Additionally, 107 (96.4%) grafts to the left anterior descending artery (LAD) were classified as patent, whereas 1 (30%) of the 3 grafts in the left circumflex (LCX) region and 1 (50%) of the 2 grafts in the right coronary artery (RCA) territory were found to be occluded. In the venous category, 8 (13.7%) of the 58 grafts to LAD were found to be occluded. In the LCX region, 9 (8.5%) of the 106 grafts were classified as occluded, while the remaining 97 (91.5%) grafts were patent. The venous grafts to RCA were occluded in 9 (10.4%) of the 86 grafts. Amongst the multiple preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors, pump time was significantly longer in the patients with occluded grafts than in those with patent grafts (P=0.04). CONCLUSION: The IMA grafts had the highest early patency rate amongst the coronary bypass grafts. However, the other arterial grafts were associated with a high rate of acute occlusions.