Technical note: An alternative use of a steerable homemade for the treatment of chronic total occlusion of an iliac artery.

INTRODUCTION: The complexity of the peripheral recanalization comes from the difficulty to cross the lesion or get into the subintimal space and its re-entry afterward, with a high risk of complications like artery dissection and/or rupture, which are life-threatening complications. To our knowledge, we report the first case of the use of a homemade steerable sheath for the successful revascularization of a heavy chronic total occlusion in a patient with unsuitable upper vascular access. TECHNIQUE: By contralateral vascular access and the use of a 6Fr 55-cm Cook Flexor sheath and a pre-looped 0.014" choice guidewire, a steerable homemade sheath was used to achieve the support, pushability, and steer needed to access the subintimal space at the origin of a heavy occluded common iliac artery, thus giving us the ability to cross the lesion. CONCLUSIONS: The homemade steerable sheath is feasible, quick, cheap, and easy to use, sparing the use of re-entry systems and catheters for the attempts of subintimal navigation. In addition, this technique gives the advantage to steer the catheters and wires as needed, avoiding non-desired re-entry points with secondary collaterals lumen compromise or extensive dissections.

Complete Transfemoral Endovascular Repair with Homemade Steerable Sheath of Intercostal Artery Patch Aneurysm after Open Repair of Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm.

The aim of this paper is to describe a case of complete transfemoral approach for endovascular treatment of a large intercostal patch aneurysm with custom-made stent-graft in a patient with Loeys-Dietz syndrome and previous multiple aortic operations. Three aortic components were used to exclude a 65-mm intercostal patch aneurysm. Because of the reimplantation site of supra-aortic trunks in a previous open arch repair, we used a complete transfemoral approach with a homemade steerable sheath to deliver all the renovisceral bridging stents through the downward side-branches. No major complications were registered. A 6-month follow-up resulted uneventfully, and an initial shrinkage of the aneurysmal lesion was found. The use of a homemade steerable sheath was safe and effective for catheterization and stenting of all the target vessels through the downward side branches.

The Safety of EVAS Surgical Conversion in a Comparative Monocentric Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Endovascular aneurysm sealing (EVAS) was a widespread technology to treat abdominal aortic aneurysm. However, the particular morphology and structure of this endoprosthesis predisposed to proximal sealing defects with a high rate of reintervention or conversion to open surgery treatments. The purpose of this article is to report our experience on late open conversion of Nellix device, compared with the previous reported experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between September 2013 and February 2020, eight late open surgical conversions for endoleak (EL) were performed in our center: four of these were for EVAR. Four of these were EVAS devices required explantation and were included in the study. All excisions of infected abdominal aortic endograft were excluded. RESULTS: All patients were treated within the original instructions for use. Aorto-bi-iliac reconstruction was performed with a bifurcated Dacron graft in all the four cases. At 12 months Doppler ultrasonography follow-up, good results at short term with preserved primary patency and freedom of re-intervention in three cases were reported. Only one patient died 16 days after the procedure. Nevertheless, the endoprosthetic structure allows in three of our cases to clamp down the renal level, with a decrease of the time of lower limbs ischemia and greater safety of the open surgery repair procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The EVAS conversion is common, and a closer follow-up is required. The most recurrent open surgery indication is its migration and the EL type 1. The procedure is influenced by multiple comorbidities; emergency graft excision appears to increase morbidity and mortality, compared with elective surgical setting.