Carotid endarterectomy in a community hospital setting: a three-year experience.

The need for all medical institutions that treat carotid artery occlusive disease to continuously monitor their surgical experience is quite evident. Nonetheless, a national survey in 1995 found that only 15% of physicians reported knowing the perioperative stroke rate at the hospitals where they perform or refer patients for carotid endarterectomy. Neurologic morbidity related to the performance of carotid endarterectomy has been continuously monitored at Howard County General Hospital for the past decade, but the true significance of this data could not be appreciated without a more comprehensive analysis of the clinical experience. The present study was undertaken with the intent of providing this information.

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. An ineffective approach to the failing vascular access.

A prosthetic arteriovenous (AV) fistula is often necessary in patients with chronic renal failure who lack suitable venous anatomy for the construction of an autogenous AV access. Not infrequently, these conduits fail as a result of neointimal hyperplasia obstructing the outflow tract at the venous anastomosis. Six patients underwent one or more attempts at balloon dilation of an anastomotic stenosis. Grafts had either thrombosed, exhibited poor arterial inflow, or developed high venous pressures. Eight of ten dilations were outright failures, while two dilations each provided an additional three months of graft function before surgical revision became necessary. We conclude that percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is of very limited value as a salvage procedure in the failing synthetic vascular access, and should be attempted only as a possible temporizing measure in those individuals in whom definitive surgical correction must be delayed.