Vascular training does matter in the outcomes of saphenous high ligation and stripping.

OBJECTIVE: Varicose vein (VV) surgery is frequently performed by surgeons without formal vascular training. We aimed to compare the outcomes of the procedure based on the background of the surgeon. METHODS: All patients registered with VV surgery between 2004 and 2016 in Portuguese public hospitals were included in the study. Intrahospital outcomes were assessed from this administrative database. A random multicenter sample of 315 patients submitted to saphenous high ligation and stripping (175 patients from six vascular surgery departments and 140 patients from five general surgery divisions) were further queried over the phone, whereby additional nonregistered outcomes were evaluated: preoperative venous ultrasound, impact on quality of life by the 14-item Chronic Venous Insufficiency Quality of Life Questionnaire, visual analogue scale evaluation (score of 1 to 5) of the aesthetic results and general satisfaction, work absence days, and time to return to physical activities. RESULTS: In 13 years, there were 153,382 patients submitted to VV surgery. Of these, 49% were operated on by general surgeons and 40% by vascular surgeons; in 11%, it was not possible to identify the specialty performing the operation. Twenty-three deaths were registered (no differences between groups). In the general surgery group, 14% of patients were hospitalized for more than one night compared with 3% in the vascular group (P < .001). Reintervention rate during the period analyzed was significantly higher in the general surgery group (13.5% vs 8.2%; P < .001). Rate of outpatient surgery was higher in the vascular surgery group (60% vs 36%; P < .001). Phone query revealed similar overall satisfaction and improvement in quality of life in both groups (4.2 vs 4.0 [P = .275] and 35% vs 36% [P = .745], respectively). However, patients operated on by general surgeons reported worse surgical scars (2.8 vs 2.1; P = .007), higher number of residual VVs (2.4 vs 1.7; P = .006), and higher number of days absent from work (40 vs 27 days; P = .005) and took longer to resume physical activities (60 vs 41 days; P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite that the majority of VV surgery in Portugal is executed by general surgeons, this study highlights important advantages when it is performed by surgeons with vascular training.

First Population-Based Screening of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Portugal.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repairs in Portugal is one of the lowest mentioned in the literature. This phenomenon can be justified either by a low prevalence of the disease or by its low detection rate. To date, the prevalence of the pathology is unknown. The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of AAA and its associated risk factors, in men aged ≥65 years and to evaluate the population's disease awareness. METHODS: All males aged ≥65 years registered in a Portuguese primary health care unit were invited to participate. The abdominal aorta was measured by ultrasound (inner to inner method). Concomitant risk factors and patient's AAA awareness were also assessed. An aortic diameter >30 mm was considered aneurysmatic. RESULTS: Nine hundred thirty-three patients were invited for the screening. Of these, 715 participated in the study (participation rate of 76.6%). The AAA prevalence in this sample was 2.1%. Eighty-five percent of the evaluated patients had never heard of the disease before. The mean age of the assessed population was 72.3 years; Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a positive association between AAA and history of smoking (odds ratio [OR] 8.8, P = 0.037) and history of dyslipidemia (OR 9.6, P = 0.035). A negative association was found between diabetes and AAA (OR 0.33, P = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: The found prevalence shows that a significant number of potentially fatal AAAs remains to be diagnosed in Portugal. These results highlight the need for an effective program of AAA detection in Portugal. The lack of awareness in the Portuguese population for this pathology should also prompt reflexion.

Simplified hybrid repair with true lumen recycling for retrograde renovisceral perfusion in a complex chronic aortic dissection.

A 59-year-old man was referred with complicated chronic type B aortic dissection. Despite the false lumen's being dominant in terms of caliber and limb perfusion, visceral arteries originated in a 9-mm true lumen. A staged approach was performed: open aortobi-iliac bypass with preservation of both lumens to the infrarenal aorta, with reinforcement of the aorta and anastomosis with Dacron (wrap technique); exclusion of the dissection by endografting all of the false lumen with three successive thoracic endoprostheses; and maintenance of true lumen perfusion using two periscopes with self-expanding nitinol stents. The patient remains asymptomatic after 1 year of follow-up.

[TEVAR: a strategy for the diversity of thoracic aorta disease. Series of cases and national prospect]. / Tevar: uma solução para a diversidade de patologias da aorta torácica: revisão institucional e panorama nacional.

OBJECTIVE: To assess endovascular treatment of thoracic aorta diseases in a national centre of angiology and vascular surgery. To quantify the national registry of TEVAR's. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This unicentric and retrospective study included patients submitted to TEVAR until the end of 2012. Twenty-seven patients were considered high-risk for conventional surgery: 14 degenerative thoracic aorta aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms (10 assymptomatic), 1 ruptured thoracoabdominal aneurysm, 5 aortabronchial/aortoesophageal fistulas, 3 complicated dissections, 2 penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer/intramural hematoma, 1 traumatic laceration and 1 embolization from aortic plaque. Eighteen (67%) were emergent/urgent procedures. RESULTS: At the institutional level, immediate technical success was achieved in all cases; average follow up was 24 months (0-97). Thirty days and 24 months global mortality was, respectively, 4% (6% for emergent/urgent procedures and 0% for elective procedures) and 13%. Aortic-related mortality was similar. One case of paraplegia and 2 of case of stoke were registered. Endoleak was present in 4 patients. Survival free from aneurysmal sac expansion (aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm or dissection, n=16) was 88% at 30 days. Survival free from aortic reintervention was 93% at 30 days and 81% at 24 months. Nationally, TEVAR registries triplicated from 2007 top 2010. CONCLUSION: These results favour the actual tendency to consider TEVAR as a first-line solution for several thoracic aortic diseases.