Diabetic neuropathy and Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) are the main etiological factors in foot ulceration. Herein, we report our experience of diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) management, with an analysis of the relationship between the rate of lower extremity amputation, in persons with infected DFU, after revascularization procedures performed to prevent major amputation. This study highlights the role of different biomarkers, showing their usefulness and potentiality in diabetic foot ulcer management, especially for the early diagnosis and therapy effectiveness monitoring. A retrospective analysis, from September 2016 to January 2021, of diabetic patients presenting diabetic foot with DFU, was performed. All patients were treated with at least one vascular procedure (endovascular, open, hybrid procedures) targeting PAD lesions. Outcomes measured were perioperative mortality and morbidity. Freedom from occlusion, primary and secondary patency, and amputation rate were registered. A total of 267 patients, with a mean age of 72.5 years, were included in the study. The major amputation rate was 6.2%, minor amputation rate was 17%. In our experience, extreme revascularization to obtain direct flow reduced the rate of amputations, with an increase in ulcer healing.

Background: Hybrid treatments (HT) aim to reduce conventional open surgery invasiveness and address multilevel peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Herein, the simultaneous HT treatment in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) is reported. Methods: Retrospective analysis, for the period from May 2012 to April 2018, of patients presenting multilevel PAD with CLTI addressed with simultaneous HT. The outcomes of these interventions were measured the following metrics: early technical successes (within 30 days following treatment) and late technical successes (30 days or more following treatment) and included mortality, morbidity symptoms recurrence, and amputation. Survival and patencies were estimated. The median follow-up was 43.77 months. Results: In the 45 included patients, the HT consisted of femoral bifurcation patch angioplasty followed by an endovascular treatment in 38 patients (84.4%) and endovascular treatment followed by a surgical bypass in 7 patients (15.6%). Technical success was 100% without perioperative mortality. Eight (17.8%) patients presented early complications without major amputations. During the follow-up, seven (15.6%) deaths occurred and six patients (13.3%) experienced symptoms recurrence, with five of those patients requiring major amputation. An estimated survival time of 5 years, primary patency, and secondary patency was 84.4%, 79.2%, and 83.3% respectively. Conclusions: Hybrid treatments are effective in addressing patients presenting with multilevel PAD and CLTI. The common femoral artery involvement influences strategy selection. Larger studies with longer-term outcomes are required to validate the hybrid approach, indications, and results.

Summary: Background: To present a technique of sheath supported contralateral limb gate (CLG) cannulation of modular bifurcated stent-graft in endovascular abdominal aortic repair. Materials and methods: After totally percutaneous bilateral femoral access, the 9F introducer sheath is exchanged to a 30 cm 12 fr introducer sheath over a stiff wire contralateral to the intended main stent-graft insertion side and advanced into the aorta below the lowest renal artery. Parallel to the stiff wire within the sheath an additional standard J-tip guidewire with a 5 fr Pigtail angiographic catheter is advanced to the level of the renal arteries. After main body deployment, the 12 fr introducer sheath and J-tip wire with pigtail catheter are retracted until the CLG opening level, maintaining the stiff “buddy” wire in position to support the 12 fr sheath, maintaining its distal opening close to the contralateral gate opening to achieve easy cannulation. Results: Retrospective analysis of video archive from July 2016 to February 2018 evidenced 55 recorded EVAR cases. All CLG cannulations were obtained with Standard J-tip or Terumo Glidewire wires and with Pig-Tail or Berenstein catheters. Technical success was 100 %. Mean fluoroscopy time to accomplish CLG cannulation was 37.6 33 (range 1–105) seconds. The aortic carrefour angulation on coronal axis strongly correlates with cannulation time p = <.001, with longer cannulation time for higher carrefour angulations on coronal axis (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.47). Conclusions: The use of 12 fr sheath with parallel wire introduction technique, appears to be a safe and reliable tool to facilitate CLG cannulation during EVAR procedures.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of a patient-specific rehearsal (PsR) before emergency endovascular aneurysm repairs (eEVAR) and its influence on the operation. Materials and Methods: From February 2016 to October 2016, 10 consecutive patients (mean age 75±7.4 years; 9 men) presenting with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) suitable for standard EVAR were enrolled in the study. A 3-dimensional (3D) model of the abdominal aorta was generated on a virtual reality simulator based on the patient’s computed tomography (CT) images. Following the patient-specific simulation setup, PsR was conducted during patient admission or in parallel with the preoperative eEVAR workup. Measured outcomes were PsR feasibility only in the first 4 patients and impact on operative performance thereafter (changes in device selection, the planning process, clinical outcomes, perioperative mortality, and complication rates). Technical metrics and timing of system setup, rehearsal, interval from patient arrival to the actual procedure, and eEVAR were recorded. Results: Mean time for 3D model creation was 21.3±7.8 minutes (range 13–37); there was a significant positive relationship between aortic neck diameter and segmentation time (p=0.003). The overall mean time for simulator setup and PsR was 54±14 minutes (range 37–80); PsR alone was completed in a mean 31±40 minutes (95% confidence interval −60 to −2.2). The actual eEVAR procedure duration was 69±16 minutes (range 45–90). No delay in the actual eEVAR procedure was registered owing to the PsR pathway. In 6 patients, preprocedure rehearsal induced changes in operative strategy, including device selection, main body introduction side, and/or deployment configuration. In 4 cases, rehearsal was performed twice to achieve optimal performance. Conclusion: PsR before eEVAR was feasible in all cases and caused no time delays in the actual eEVAR procedure. PsR optimized eEVAR planning by identifying optimal strategy for stent-graft component selection and deployment.