Revascularization prevents amputation among patients with diabetic foot during the COVID-19 era.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in healthcare systems that impact the management of chronic diseases such as diabetic foot (DF). We hypothesized that lack of access to healthcare would increase the severity of disease and lead to worse outcomes. METHODS: The medical records of patients with DF were reviewed to determine demographic data and outcomes including wound healing, major amputation (MA), and death. Groups were divided into the pre-COVID-19 era (15 March 2019-15 March 2020) and the COVID-19 era (16 March 2020-16 March 2021); multivariable logistic analysis was performed to identify risk factors for MA. RESULTS: 261 patients with DF were included, 163 in the pre-COVID-19 era and 98 during the COVID-19 era. Patients in the COVID-19 presented with increased cardiovascular disease (19 vs 7%, p = 0.01), increased mean HbA1C (9.1 ± 2.1 vs 8.2 ± 2.1, p = 0.008) and higher WIFI-IV stage (78 vs 53%, p ≤ 0.0001). Patients with DF in the COVID-19 era were more likely to require MA (41 vs 21%, p ≤ 0.0001). Revascularization (OR = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.038-0.38) was a protective factor to reduce MA. CONCLUSIONS: MA among DF patients increased two-fold during the COVID-19 era. Revascularization avoids MA in diabetic patients even during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that revascularization should be performed when possible.

Contemporary Treatment of Popliteal Artery Aneurysms in 14 Countries: A Vascunet Report.

OBJECTIVE: Popliteal artery aneurysm (PAA) is the second most common arterial aneurysm. Vascunet is an international collaboration of vascular registries. The aim was to study treatment and outcomes. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively registered population based data. Fourteen countries contributed data (Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, and Switzerland). RESULTS: During 2012-2018, data from 10 764 PAA repairs were included. Mean values with between countries ranges in parenthesis are given. The incidence was 10.4 cases/million inhabitants/year (2.4-19.3). The mean age was 71.3 years (66.8-75.3). Most patients, 93.3%, were men and 40.0% were active smokers. The operations were elective in 73.2% (60.0%-85.7%). The mean pre-operative PAA diameter was 32.1 mm (27.3-38.3 mm). Open surgery dominated in both elective (79.5%) and acute (83.2%) cases. A medial surgical approach was used in 77.7%, and posterior in 22.3%. Vein grafts were used in 63.8%. Of the emergency procedures, 91% (n = 2 169, 20.2% of all) were for acute thrombosis and 9% for rupture (n = 236, 2.2% of all). Thrombosis patients had larger aneurysms, mean diameter 35.5 mm, and 46.3% were active smokers. Early amputation and death were higher after acute presentation than after elective surgery (5.0% vs. 0.7%; 1.9% vs. 0.5%). This pattern remained one year after surgery (8.5% vs. 1.0%; 6.1% vs. 1.4%). Elective open compared with endovascular surgery had similar one year amputation rates (1.2% vs. 0.2%; p = .095) but superior patency (84.0% vs. 78.4%; p = .005). Veins had higher patency and lower amputation rates, at one year compared with synthetic grafts (86.8% vs. 72.3%; 1.8% vs. 5.2%; both p < .001). The posterior open approach had a lower amputation rate (0.0% vs. 1.6%, p = .009) than the medial approach. CONCLUSION: Patients presenting with acute ischaemia had high risk of amputation. The frequent use of endovascular repair and prosthetic grafts should be reconsidered based on these results.

Prognostic factors and survival in Ewing's sarcoma treated by limb salvage surgery.

PURPOSE: Survival in Ewing's sarcoma (ES) has increased with the use of chemotherapy. Surgical techniques such as limb salvage (LS) have been developed. Survival and adverse events have been widely studied in general series of ES, but there are few specific series of ES cases treated by LS, despite this being the most commonly used (surgical) approach. The aim of this study was to determine survival and prognostic factors in ES patients undergoing LS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analysed all ES patients treated between January 1984 and May 2008 and selected all those treated by systemic multimodal therapy and LS. We assessed the influence of patient characteristics, tumour parameters and therapeutic results in event-free survival (EFS). RESULTS: Ninety patients were included. Fifty of them were treated by systemic multimodal therapy and locally by LS. ean age was 20 years. Overall survival (OS) was 68.8% and EFS was 60.6% at years. In the univariate analysis, pelvic location, age and response to chemotherapy were associated with poor prognosis. After multivariate analysis, poor response to treatment, pelvis location and age between 12 and 17 years were found to be independent prognostic factors. Dissemination at diagnosis was not a prognostic factor. CONCLUSIONS: OS and EFS in ES treated by LS were similar to findings in previous ES studies. factors are no different, except for the presence of metastasis at diagnosis.

The importance of the superficial and profunda femoris arteries in limb salvage following endovascular treatment of chronic aortoiliac occlusive disease.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to report the long-term limb salvage, survival and patency rates of endovascular treatment for aortoiliac occlusive disease (AIOD) when outflow was achieved through the profunda femoris artery (PFA) only vs both the PFA and superficial femoral artery (SFA). METHODS: From January 2008 to July 2016, patients with AIOD who underwent aortoiliac angioplasty at the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual, São Paulo, Brazil, were classified into two groups according to whether they had femoral outflow via the PFA only (group 1) or both the PFA and SFA (group 2) in the affected leg. The primary outcome was amputation-free survival. The secondary outcomes were the patency and overall survival rates. RESULTS: In total, 69 aortoiliac angioplasties were performed in 69 patients: 22 patients (31.8%) in group 1 and 47 (67.2%) in group 2. A total of 12 reinterventions (17.4%) were performed, seven (31.8%) in group 1 and five (10.2%) in group 2, without statistical significance between the groups (P = .063). The mean clinical follow-up period was 2500 ± 880.5 days. Both the primary and secondary patency rates analyzed at 1800 days were similar between groups 1 and 2 (80.2% vs 82.3%; P = .80 and 84.7% vs 97.6%; P = .10, respectively). Furthermore, the limb salvage rates at 1800 days were similar between groups 1 and 2 (91.3% vs 86.1%; P = .60), as were the survival rates (74.7% vs 78%; P = .80). The Bollinger score was worse in group 1 (P = .001), as expected, because of occlusion of the SFA. However, the PFA and popliteal artery scores were similar between the two groups. Occlusion of the SFA did not influence the limb salvage rate according to univariate analysis (P = .509) and multivariate Cox regression analysis (P = .671). CONCLUSIONS: The patency of the SFA does not interfere with the outcomes of endovascular treatment for chronic AIOD. The PFA in conjunction with the popliteal artery as the sole outflow route for iliac endovascular treatment is associated with similar patency, survival, and limb salvage rates as those for outflow through both the PFA and SFA.

Vascularização temporária de membros isquêmicos por meio de shunt arteriomedular: trabalho experimental / Temporary vascularization on ischemic limbs through arterial-medullar shunt: an experimental work

CONTEXTO: Os autores idealizaram um shunt temporário entre a artéria femoral e o canal medular de ossos longos para manter a viabilidade dos membros agudamente isquêmicos, enquanto não é possível estabelecer um tratamento definitivo. OBJETIVO: Avaliar a perviedade de shunts temporários arteriomedulares e a perfusão dos membros, durante duas horas em cães de experimentação, que tiveram a artéria femoral ligada. MÉTODOS: Alocaram-se aleatoriamente dois grupos, com três cães no Grupo Controle e seis no Grupo Intervenção. Os controles tiveram a artéria femoral comum direita ligada. O Grupo Intervenção, além da ligadura da artéria, recebeu um shunt. Após duas horas, realizou-se a medida de pH dos membros isquêmicos; avaliação do fluxo arterial por meio de um sonar Doppler; avaliação da coloração do sangramento na extremidade distal do membro e foram retirados em bloco torácico os pulmões para análise anatomopatológica. RESULTADOS: A média do pH do sangue capilar das extremidades do membros no Grupo Controle foi de 6,97 (±0,39); no Grupo Intervenção o pH foi de 7,25 (±0,46), com p<0,001; a coloração do sangue no Grupo Intervenção manteve-se com aspecto rutilante em todos os animais. Os shunts necessitaram, em média, três irrigações com solução salina heparinada para manterem-se pérvios. A avaliação macroscópica e microscópica do tecido pulmonar não evidenciou embolia gordurosa. CONCLUSÃO: O shunt arterio-osteal ou arteriomedular apresentou viabilidade técnica em laboratório.

BACKGROUND: The authors idealized a temporary shunt between the femoral artery and the medullar canal on long bones to keep the viability of acutely ischemic limbs, while waiting for a definitive treatment. OBJECTIVE: To assess the flow on temporary shunts between the femoral artery and the marrow canal of the tibia during two hours in experimental dogs, which had the femoral artery interrupted. METHODS: Two groups with three dogs on the Control Group and six on the Intervention Group were allocated at random. The controls had the right femoral common artery interrupted. The Intervention Group received a shunt between the iliac external artery and the medullar canal of the right tibia in addition. After two hours, the measure of the pH, blood coloration, blood flow in sonar Doppler on the ischemic limbs were performed. The lungs were withdrawn in thoracic block for anatomic-pathologic analyses. RESULTS: The capillary blood pH average of the limb extremities in the Control Group was 6.97 (±0.39) and in the Intervention Group was 7.25 (±0.46), with p<0.001, and the blood coloration in the Intervention Group kept the bright aspect in all animals. The shunts needed in average three irrigations with saline heparin solution to be kept unobstructed. The macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of the pulmonary tissue did not evidence fat emboli. CONCLUSION: The artery osseous or artery medullar (marrow) shunt showed to be feasible on the technical point of view in the laboratory.