Success rate of adrenal venous sampling and predictors for success : a retrospective study

Purpose: To report the success rate of adrenal venous sampling (AVS) and identify the predictors for procedural success. Material and methods: Sixty-four patients (18 men and 46 women) with a mean ± SD age of 50 ± 11.8 years (range 28-69 years) diagnosed as primary hyperaldosteronism, and who underwent AVS from January 2009 to December 2016, were retrospectively reviewed. In our institution, the initial period to perform the AVS was set from 2009 to 2013, and the post-initial period was defined as procedures performed after 2013. Successful sampling was determined when the ratio of cortisol from the adrenal vein to the level of cortisol in the inferior vena cava ≥ 5. The procedural success and subject factors between success and failure were analysed. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The success rate of bilateral AVS was 71.9%. The success rates of right and left AVS were 76.6% and 90.6%, respectively. Male patients were more likely to succeed than female patients (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 9.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-85.14; p = 0.009). In our institution, the procedure performed in the post-initial period also succeeded more often compared to the initial period (aOR, 5.05; 95% CI, 1.2-21.16; p = 0.017). No other factors were associated with the success rate in this study. Conclusions: The success rate of bilateral AVS in our institution was rather high. Male gender and procedure performed in the post-initial period were significant predictive factors for a successful procedure

Patency of Drug-Coated versus Conventional Balloon Angioplasty for Hemodialysis Access Stenosis

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the post-intervention target primary patency of drug-coated balloon angioplasty (DCBA) compared with conventional balloon angioplasty (CBA) in the treatment of the dysfunctional autogenous arteriovenous fistula (AVF) in a real-world clinical setting. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 24 patients with end-stage renal disease, who developed dysfunctional AVF during hemodialysis, and underwent endovascular treatment using CBA and DCBA from January 1, 2014, to June 30, 2021. The demographic data of patients and details regarding their fistula were recorded. Post-intervention target primary patency was analyzed. Results: Sixteen men and 8 women with an average age of 63.9 ± 14.2 years, who underwent 333 endovascular treatments in 57 target lesions of access were enrolled. DCBA was a protective factor for the treatment of a target lesion of dysfunctional access with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.725 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.528–0.996; P = 0.047). According to the Weibull proportional hazards regression model, DCBA showed a longer post-intervention target primary patency than CBA. Conclusion: DCBA has better outcomes in terms of post-intervention target primary patency in the real-world treatment of dysfunctional autogenous AVF

Percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy for pulmonary nodules : a retrospective study of a comparison between C-arm cone-beam computed tomography and conventional computed tomography guidance

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and diagnostic performance of pulmonary nodule biopsies using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) guidance compared with conventional CT (CCT) guidance. Material and methods: Patients who had pulmonary nodules and underwent a transthoracic needle biopsy at the interventional unit from January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2018 were enrolled. CBCT with XperGuide software was used to biopsy 100 nodules, and CCT guidance was used to biopsy 266 nodules. The two techniques were compared in terms of radiation exposure, complications, and diagnostic accuracy. The p values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The characteristics of the nodules were similar between CBCT and CCT guidance. The median radiation doses were not significantly different between the two groups (5.6 mGy vs. 5.4 mGy; p = 0.78). All minor, major, and overall complications were insignificant (25% vs. 24.4%, 3% vs. 4.9% and 28% vs. 29.3%, respectively). Although CBCT guidance showed higher sensitivity and accuracy than CCT guidance (93.3% vs. 84.1% and 95.0% vs. 89.9%), both techniques had similar specificity (100% vs. 100%) in the diagnosis of malignancy. Conclusions: CBCT guidance in pulmonary nodule biopsy provided higher diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy than CCT guidance. However, the complication rates and effective radiation doses did not differ between both techniques

Congenital Absence of Left Circumflex Artery Detected by Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography: A Case Report

The congenital absence of the left circumflex artery (LCx) is a very rare congenital anomaly of coronary arteries, but it is benign. Currently, the best modality for the diagnosis of coronary anomalies is computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA). We report a case of congenitally absent LCx with an atypical chest pain

Pharmacomechanical thrombolysis for the treatment of thrombosed native arteriovenous fistula : a single-center experience

Background: Native arteriovenous fistula is one of the important routes for hemodialysis patients because of increased long-term survival and preservation of quality of life. We reported on a single-center experience with using pharmacomechanical thrombolysis for the treatment of thrombosed native arteriovenous fistula. Material/Methods: This was a retrospective study of 12 hemodialysis patients (8 males and 4 females) with 14 thrombosed distal forearm Brescia-Cimino radiocephalic fistulas who were referred for pharmacomechanical thrombolytic treatment in the intervention unit of the Radiology Department, from 1 January 2010 to 30 December 2011. Demographic data, technical success rates, clinical success rates and complications were evaluated. The patency was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: The technical and clinical success was found in 12 thrombosed fistulas. Only 3 procedures had minor complications including small amounts of adjacent soft tissue hematoma. There were no procedure-related major complications. The primary patency rates at 6 and 12 months were 67% and 50%. The secondary patency rates at 6 and 12 months were 75% and 67%. Conclusions: Pharmacomechanical thrombolysis is a minimally invasive, effective, durable, and safe procedure for the treatment of thrombosed native arteriovenous fistula. This procedure can be considered as an alternative treatment for thrombosed dialysis fistulas

Validation of the ALBI-TAE model and comparison of seven scoring systems for predicting survival outcome in patients with intermediate‐stage hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing chemoembolization

Abstract Background The ALBI-TAE model was recently proposed as a scoring system to select suitable patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). However, this scoring system has not been externally validated. Therefore, we validated this score and compared it with six scoring systems in terms of prognostication. Methods We retrospectively enrolled 480 patients with intermediate-stage HCC who underwent TACE at a tertiary care center between January 2008 and December 2019. Seven scores, which included the ALBI-TAE model, Bolondi’s subclassification, HAP score, mHAP-II score, tumor burden score, six-and-twelve score, and seven-eleven criteria, were calculated and a head-to-head comparison was made in terms of prognostic power using Harrell’s C-index. Prognostic factors associated with survival were analyzed. Results ALBI-TAE group A had the longest median overall survival (OS) of 40.80 months, followed by ALBI-TAE groups B, C, and D of 20.14 months, 10.58 months, and 7.54 months, respectively, with significant differences (P < 0.001). Among the seven scores, the ALBI-TAE model had the best predictive performance (Harrell’s C-index 0.633) in differentiating OS in intermediate-stage HCC patients. Moreover, the ALBI-TAE model was identified as an independent prognostic factor for survival outcome in multivariate analysis. Conclusion Our study confirmed the value of the ALBI-TAE model with excellent prognostic discriminatory power in intermediate-stage HCC patients. The ALBI-TAE model is a simple and valuable predictive tool to identify patients with good prognosis who can get the most benefit from TACE