Predisposing Anatomy for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Functional Outcomes after Supraclavicular Thoracic Outlet Decompression in Athletes.

Purpose: This study aims to examine predisposing anatomic factors and subsequent post-decompression functional outcomes among high-intensity athletes with thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). Materials and Methods: A single-institution retrospective review was performed on a prospective database of patients with TOS from 2018 to 2023 who had undergone operative decompression for TOS. Demographics, TOS characteristics, predisposing anatomy, operative details, and postoperative outcomes were examined. The primary outcome was postoperative return to sport. Secondary outcomes included vascular patency. Results: A total of 13 patients who were engaged in high-demand athletic activity at the time of their diagnosis were included. Diagnoses included 8 (62%) patients with venous TOS, 4 (31%) patients with neurogenic TOS, and 1 (8%) patient with arterial TOS. Mixed vascular and neurogenic TOS was observed in 3 (23%) patients. The mean age of the cohort was 30 years. Abnormal scalene structure was observed in 12 (92%) patients, and abnormal bone structures were noted in 4 (27%) patients; 2 (15%) with cervical ribs and 3 (23%) patients with clavicular abnormalities. Prior ipsilateral upper extremity trauma was reported in 4 (27%) patients. Significant joint hypermobility was observed in 8 (62%) patients with a median Beighton score of 6. Supraclavicular cervical and/or first rib resection with scalenectomy was performed in all patients. One case of postoperative pneumothorax was treated non-operatively. Ten (77%) patients returned to sport. Duplex ultrasonography showed subclavian vein patency in all 8 patients with venous TOS and wide patency with no drop in perfusion indices in the patient with arterial TOS. Conclusion: Athletes with TOS who required operative intervention had a high incidence of musculoskeletal aberrations and joint hypermobility. Supraclavicular decompression was associated with a high success rate, with overall good functional outcomes and good likelihood of patients returning to preoperative high-intensity athletics.

Revascularizations and limb outcomes of hospitalized patients with diabetic peripheral arterial disease in the contemporary era.

BACKGROUND: Concomitant diabetes mellitus and peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a complex disease process. This retrospective analysis of the National Inpatient Sample sought to understand trends in limb outcomes of this unique and prevalent cohort of patients. METHODS: The National Inpatient Sample was queried between 2003 and 2017 for hospitalizations of patients with both type 2 diabetes mellitus and PAD. Trends in hospitalizations, limb outcomes, vascular interventions, and costs were analyzed. RESULTS: There were 10,303,673 hospitalizations of patients with concomitant diabetes mellitus and PAD that were identified between 2003 and 2017. The prevalence of hospitalizations associated with this disease process increased from 1644 to 3228 per 100,000 hospitalizations, a 96.4% increase. This included an increase of 288 to 587 per 100,000 hospitalizations of patients aged 18 to 49 years old, which was accompanied by a 10.8% increase in minor amputations. Nontraumatic lower extremity amputations decreased overall. Black and Hispanic ethnicity were associated with an increased risk for amputation, along with Medicaid insurance and lower income quartile. Inpatient endovascular revascularization has increased over time with an associated decrease in open revascularization procedures. Amputation-related hospital costs significantly increased from $6.6 billion in 2003 to $14.8 billion in 2017. CONCLUSIONS: An alarming increase of disease prevalence, negative in-hospital limb outcomes, and costs are seen in the current era in this analysis of patients with concurrent diabetes and PAD.

Contemporary Unplanned Readmission Trends Following Management of Type B Aortic Dissection.

Purpose: Large studies have demonstrated improved survival outcomes with thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) at two and five years compared to medical therapy; however, early TEVAR for acute type B aortic dissection (TBAD) remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate trends and clinical predictors of hospital readmissions in patients undergoing medical management and TEVAR for acute TBADs. Materials and Methods: The Nationwide Readmissions Database was queried for all 30-day and 90-day index readmissions (30D-IR and 90D-IR, respectively) after a diagnosis of a TBAD from January 2012 to September 2015. Data on readmission diagnosis, patient demographics, and hospital characteristics were collected from readmitted patients and analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify the predictors of readmission after TEVAR or medical medical management of TBAD. Results: We identified 53,117 patients with acute TBAD. Medical management was the initial treatment modality in 46,985 (88.4%) patients, while 6,132 (11.5%) underwent TEVAR. Factors including older patient age, lower household income, severity of comorbidities, initial hospital length of stay, and urgent procedure demonstrated an increased likelihood of experiencing 30D-IR and 90D-IR (P<0.05). The rate of unplanned readmission for patients undergoing medical management remained stable (11.3% vs. 10.0% for 30D-IR; 19.1% vs. 15.5% for 90D-IR). Reasons for unplanned readmission in the TEVAR cohort were largely related to technical complications. There was no significant difference in readmission costs between medical management and TEVAR. Conclusion: Number of unplanned readmissions in the TEVAR arm decreased significantly over time, whereas the number of readmissions for medical management remained stable.

Trends and Determinants of Readmissions to Another Facility After Endovascular Aortic Repair.

BACKGROUND: Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has become the procedure of choice for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). It has been previously reported that significant percentage of patients were being readmitted to another hospital after complications after EVAR. We aimed to evaluate trends and clinical predictors of readmission to another (secondary) hospital after index EVAR. METHODS: The Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) was queried for all 30-day readmissions after an index EVAR procedure from 2012 to 2014. Readmission diagnosis, patient demographics, and hospital characteristics were collected regarding those patients who were admitted to another care facility after EVAR. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify predictors for readmission to a different hospital. RESULTS: Between 2012 and 2014, 3,215 patients were readmitted to another hospital within 30 days of their index EVAR constituting 22.8% of a total 14,073 readmissions during that time period. Comorbidities of patients examined were similar between those patients readmitted to the primary hospital versus the secondary hospital except for the incidence of hypothyroidism (P < 0.001). Higher proportion of patients admitted to a different hospital had Medicare and Medicaid insurance (P < 0.047). In addition, higher proportion of patients readmitted to secondary hospitals had EVAR performed at smaller (<100 beds) hospitals (P = 0.002). Univariate analysis demonstrated that patients readmitted to another hospital were slightly older and had higher index length of stay and higher index hospital cost after EVAR (P < 0.001). In a multivariate model, index EVAR at a small hospital (odds ratio [OR]: 1.7) and the diagnosis of hypothyroidism (OR: 1.54) were independent determinants of readmission to another care facility. CONCLUSIONS: Significant proportion of patients is being readmitted elsewhere after elective EVAR adding complexity to the determination of appropriate healthcare resource allocation. In our study, index EVAR at a small hospital (<100 beds) and pre-existing medical comorbidity of hypothyroidism were significant predictors for unanticipated readmission to a different hospital.

Endovascular Strategies in the Management of Acute Limb Ischemia.

Acute limb ischemia (ALI) represents one of the most common emergent scenarios encountered by a vascular specialist. Despite expedient revascularization, high rates of limb loss are reported along with high mortality rates which are second only to ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms. Surgical revascularization is standard of care. Endovascular techniques as an alternative have emerged to be appropriate first line therapy when addressing the threatened limb. We review the etiology and classification of ALI and current endovascular techniques and evidence to date in the management of patients acutely presenting with extremity ischemia.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging of aorto-iliac and ilio-femoral vascular calcifications using proton density-weighted in-phase stack of stars.

BACKGROUND: Comparing cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) angiography with computed tomography angiography (CTA), a major deficiency has been its inability to reliably image peripheral vascular calcifications that may impact the choice of interventional strategy and influence patient prognosis. Recently, MRI using a proton density-weighted, in-phase stack of stars (PDIP-SOS) technique has proved capable of detecting these calcifications. The goal of the present study was two-fold: (1) to determine whether magnetic field strength impacts the apparent size and conspicuity of ilio-femoral arterial calcifications; and (2) to determine whether the technique can be accurately applied to image aorto-iliac arterial calcifications. MAIN BODY: Two patient cohorts were studied. For the first cohort, ilio-femoral arterial calcifications were imaged at 1.5 Tesla in 20 patients and at 3 Tesla in 12 patients. For the second cohort, aorto-iliac arterial calcifications were imaged in 10 patients at 3 Tesla and one patient at 1.5 Tesla. Qualitative image analysis as well as quantitative analysis using a semi-automated technique were performed using CTA as the reference standard. Qualitatively, most PDIP-SOS CMR images showed good-to-excellent confidence to detect vascular calcifications, with good-to-excellent inter-reader agreement (κ = 0.67 for ilio-femoral region, P < 0.001; κ = 0.80 for aorto-iliac region, P < 0.01). There was an overall excellent correlation (r = 0.98, P < 0.001) and agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.97, P < 0.001) between PDIP-SOS CMR and CTA measures of calcification volume in both regions, with no overt difference in performance at 1.5 Tesla vs. 3 Tesla for ilio-femoral calcifications. CMR lesion volumes were slightly lower than those measured for CTA. CONCLUSION: Using PDIP-SOS CMR, aorto-iliac and ilio-femoral calcifications could be simultaneously evaluated at 3 Tesla in less than six minutes with excellent correlation and agreement to CTA. Our results suggest that PDIP-SOS CMR provides a reliable alternative to CT for pre-interventional evaluation of peripheral vascular calcium burden.

Endovascular treatment of iatrogenic injury to the retrohepatic inferior vena cava.

Iatrogenic injury of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare event with potentially devastating sequelae. Only a handful of case reports are available in the literature describing successful endovascular techniques to manage this complication. We present the case of a patient with injury to the retrohepatic IVC resulting in life-threatening hemorrhage which was controlled with endovascular stent grafts.

Complications of indwelling retrievable versus permanent inferior vena cava filters.

OBJECTIVE: Retrievable inferior vena cava (IVC) filters are appealing because they are designed for either retrieval or long-term use. However, the long-term safety of indwelling retrievable compared with permanent filters is largely unknown. This study was undertaken to compare complication rates and types associated with indwelling retrievable and permanent filters. METHODS: A retrospective review identified 1234 IVC filters (449 retrievable, 785 permanent) placed in 1225 patients from 2005 to 2010. Patients with retrievable filters removed electively were excluded, yielding 383 patients in whom retrievable filters were left in place. These patients with indwelling retrievable filters were compared with those with permanent filters with respect to demographics, comorbidities, survival, and complication rate and type. Differences in patient characteristics were tested with χ(2), Fisher exact, and Wilcox rank-sum tests. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of complications. Because there were differences in the characteristics of the patients with indwelling retrievable filters and permanent filters, an additional propensity score analysis was performed yielding 319 patients in each group. RESULTS: Patients with indwelling retrievable filters were younger than those with permanent filters (mean age, 62 vs 75 years; P < .0001). Patients with indwelling retrievable filters had significantly more complications than those with permanent filters (9% vs 3.0%; P < .0001) after mean follow-up of 20 months (range, 0-86 months). Filter complications were categorized as thrombotic, device related, or systemic. While the most common complication type with both indwelling retrievable and permanent filters was thrombotic (4.4% vs 2.2%; P = NS), device-related complications were significantly more common with indwelling retrievable filters compared with permanent filters (3% vs 0.5%; P < .006). Propensity score analysis demonstrated that even in the matched groups, indwelling retrievable filters were associated with significantly more complications than permanent filters (9.1% vs 3.5%; P = .0035). CONCLUSIONS: Indwelling retrievable IVC filters were associated with significantly higher complication rates than permanent filters. Both thrombotic and device-related complications were more common with retrievable filters. Long-term use of retrievable filters should be avoided, especially considering the younger population in whom they are placed.