Carotid endarterectomy in Russia. What if current guidelines do not answer difficult questions?

This literature review covers the publications of Russian vascular surgeons in recent years and deals with debatable issues of carotid surgery, including: 1. What is the best technique for carotid endarterectomy (CEA)? 2. Why does restenosis of the internal carotid artery (ICA) develop and how to eliminate it? 3. How to operate on bilateral ICA stenosis? 4. Should carotid glomus be preserved? 5. Is CEA safe in the acute phase of cerebrovascular accident (CVA)? 6. Is CEA safe in elderly patients? 7. How to operate on patients with combined internal carotid and coronary artery involvement? The evidence presented in this publication makes it possible to draw the following conclusions: 1. When choosing a CEA technique, the classical technique with patch angioplasty should be avoided due to the high risk of ICA restenosis. 2. To eliminate ICA restenosis, carotid angioplasty with stenting (CAS) should be used. When performing primary CEA with ICA transposition over the hypoglossal nerve, reCEA can be used 3. In the absence of contraindications, bilateral ICA stenosis can be operated at the same time using CEA. 4. CEA with carotid glomus preservation is the operation of choice in the treatment of patients with hemodynamically significant ICA stenosis due to the elimination of the risks of postoperative hypertension and the formation of hemorrhagic transformation. 5. If there are indications for cerebral revascularization in the most acute period of stroke, CEA should be abandoned in favor of CAS. 6. In old age, CAS is the safest treatment strategy. 7. In the presence of a combined ICA and coronary involvement, the choice of treatment tactics should be carried out only by a multidisciplinary commission, taking into account the risk stratification of adverse cardiovascular events

Predictors of rethrombosis and death in patients with COVID-19 after lower limb arterial thrombectomy for acute ischemia

Aim. To identify predictors of rethrombosis and death in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) after thrombectomy for acute lower limb ischemia.Material and methods. For the period from April 2020 to January 2022, 189 pa tients with acute arterial lower limb thrombosis and acute lower limb ischemia were included in this study. In all cases, a positive polymerase chain reaction test for SARS-CoV-2 was obtained. According to chest multislice computed tomography, bilateral multisegmental pneumonia was identified as follows: 76 patients — grade 2 (25-50% of lung tissue involvement); 52 patients — grade 3 (50-75%); 61 patients — grade 4 (>75%). Breathing was carried out as follows: in 88 patients — spontaneous; in 42 — with oxygen administration by nasal cannula; 26 — non-invasive ventilation; 33 had artificial ventilation. All acute arterial thromboses developed within the hospital at 4,5±1,5 days after hospitalization. The time between the onset to diagnosis verification was 27,8±5,0 min. The revascularization strategy was established by a multidisciplinary team meeting. The interval between the development of acute ischemia symptoms and surgery was 45,9±6,3 minutes. Thrombectomy was performed according to the standard technique, under local and/or intravenous anesthesia, using 3F-7F Fogarty catheters.Results. Retrombosis developed in 80,4% of cases 6,4±5,1 hours after surgery. In 59,8% of cases, retrombectomy turned out to be ineffective and the patient underwent limb amputation. In 65,6% of patients, a death was established due to multiple organ dysfunction. Among them, limb amputation was performed in 103 patients. Binary logistic regression identified following predictors of retrombosis/ death: age over 70 years (odds ratio (OR), 30,73; 95% confidence interval (CI), 11,52-33,7), obesity (OR, 15,53; 95% CI, 6,41-78,19), diabetes (OR 14,21; 95% CI, 5,86-49,21), vasopressor support (OR 8,55; 95% CI, 4,94-17,93), mechanical ventilation (OR 7,39; 95% CI, 4,81-16,52).Conclusion. Predictors of retrombosis and death in patients with COVID-19 after lower limb arterial thrombectomy are age over 70 years, obesity, diabetes, vasopressor support, and mechanical ventilation

"<i>Festina lente</i>" — a multicenter study on the outcomes of carotid endarterectomy, depending on vessel suturing speed

Aim. Analysis of inhospital and long-term outcomes of conventional carotid endarterectomy (CEA) depending on vessel suturing speed.Material and methods. The present prospective multicenter study for the period from March 1, 2017 to October 1, 2020 included 2366 patients who underwent conventional CEA with patch angioplasty. Depending on the time required to apply 1 stitch, 4 groups of patients were formed: group 1 (n=471; 19,9%) — 1 stitch per 2 seconds; group 2 (n=865; 36,5%) — 1 stitch per 3 seconds; group 3 (n=692; 29,2%) — 1 stitch per 4 seconds; group 4 (n=338; 14,3%) — 1 stitch per 5 seconds. The term "stitch" refers to two needle punctures. The follow-up postoperative period was 18,5±11,0 months.Results. There were no deaths and myocardial infarctions (MI) in the inhospital postoperative period. In group 1, anastomotic bleeding (n=93; 19,7%; p&lt;0,0001) and stroke (n=3; 0,63%; p=0,02) due to internal carotid artery (ICA) thrombosis were more common. In the long-term follow-up period, there were no significant differences in mortality and MI rates. However, ICA restenosis requiring repeated CEA (n=37; 7,85%; p&lt;0,0001) and related stroke/transient ischemic attack (n=13; 2,8%; p=0,0001) were more often diagnosed in 1 group of patients. According to Kaplan-Meier curves, restenosis was most often revealed 6 months after CEA in the general sample.Conclusion. 1. Vessel suturing at a speed of 1 stitch per 2 seconds is associated with an increased risk of intraoperative ICA thrombosis, bleeding along the anastomosis, stroke, as well as restenosis and stroke in the long-term follow-up period. 2. Vessel suturing at a speed of 1 stitch per 5 seconds is not accompanied by an increase in inhospital stroke rate, despite the maximum ICA occlusion time relative to other groups of patients. 3. Vessel suturing at a speed of 1 stitch per 3 or 4 seconds characterized by the lowest incidence of all complications at the inhospital and long-term stages of postoperative follow-up