Factors contributing to patency after aneurysmorrhaphy and outflow repair in arteriovenous fistula aneurysm treatment.

INTRODUCTION: Vascular access-related aneurysms (VARA) are a complication of arteriovenous fistulas. Repair techniques have been described in the literature with varied outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study on patients who had VARA repair over 41 months. The indication for repair was an aneurysmal arteriovenous fistula (AVF) at risk of haemorrhage or difficulty in cannulation. Pseudoaneurysms, infected AVF and bleeding VARA were excluded. All patients underwent outflow stenosis treatment when present, followed by aneurysmorrhaphy. They were monitored periodically over 12 months, measuring functional primary and cumulative patency and access flow. We studied the patient demography, access flow and presence of outflow stenosis. Access flow was measured from the brachial artery (Qa) as a surrogate using ultrasonography. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to predict the primary and cumulative patency at 12 months and factors contributing to 12-month patency were analysed. RESULTS: A total of 64 patients were recruited for this study, of whom 58 completed the study. Most of the participants were male (67%) with a median age of 45 years. Forty-six patients (79.3%) had brachiocephalic fistula (BCF) aneurysms. Thirty-nine (67.2%) had preexisting outflow stenoses that required intervention. All patients underwent an aneurysmorrhaphy, of whom 12% had a cephalic arch vein transposition due to severe stenosis. Primary patency at 12 months was 86%, whereas the cumulative patency rate was 95%. Patency was significantly associated with younger age and showed a positive trend with higher preintervention Qa. Symptomatic recurrent stenosis developed in 17.2% of the cohort. CONCLUSION: Improving the patency of VARA entails the treatment of outflow stenosis and aneurysmorrhaphy. Surveillance is important to detect and treat recurrent outflow stenoses. The outcome is better among younger patients with pre-interventional access flow as measured in the brachial artery as a surrogate.

A 5-year retrospective study of abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in a Malaysian hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Prevalence and mortality due to abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) have reduced; however, trends in Malaysia are difficult to determine due to the low prevalence and volume of published data. Our aim was to study current trends in AAA treatment in a national referral unit and compare them to previous reports. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on all patients who had AAA repair between 2015 and 2019 in Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL). Operating logbooks from the study period were digitised, and details of aortoiliac aneurysm surgery were analysed. We compared these findings to a previous study on AAA treatment conducted in HKL between 1993 and 1995. RESULTS: Over the course of 5 years, 496 abdominal aortic surgery were performed. There were 451 patients (90.9%) with AAA, whereas 41 patients (8.3%) had mycotic aneurysms. Among patients with AAA, the median age was 70 (IQR 11) and was mostly male (89.3%), whereas inlay repair was the most common technique (n = 395, 87.5%) while EVAR was employed in 36 patients (8.0%). A two proportion z test comparing emergency surgery proportions between our study cohort (56.1%) and the 1993-1995 cohort (39.3%) was significant (p = .017). CONCLUSION: There has been a significant increase in the proportion of emergency surgery in HKL. Open surgery remains the most frequent repair technique. The increase in volume likely reflects the accessibility of healthcare, though other factors may play a role. Improvements in outcomes will benefit from research on the standard of care based on prospective data.

Mycotic iliac artery aneurysm with appendicitis in a pediatric patient.

Iliac aneurysms are rare in children, especially mycotic aneurysms. Re-vascularization is challenging given the infected field and concern on patency due to their growth potential and a longer life-span. We report a complex case of a mycotic iliac aneurysm in a child. A 12-years-old boy with a previous history of infective endocarditis was referred to us for a right common iliac mycotic aneurysm after presenting with pain. A balloon-expandable stent-graft was deployed across the aneurysm during the acute presentation. He improved post-operatively, but developed abdominal pain four weeks later. A repeat computed tomography (CT) imaging showed a new inflammation of the appendix which was adhered to the calcified wall of the aneurysm and an endoleak from the internal iliac artery. A laparotomy was performed and the right internal iliac artery ligated along with an appendicectomy and omental pedicle. Postoperatively the patient was well and discharged home. Six-month surveillance revealed a healthy child and imaging showed a patent stent-graft and no residual collection.