The goal of our study was to determine the prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) that were incidentally diagnosed by computed tomography applied for different reasons and to discuss the risk factors that may cause AAA. A total of 5396 abdominal computed tomography examinations were performed, and the 103 incidentally detected AAAs were included in the study. Patients with and without AAA were compared in terms of age, gender, thoracic and abdominal aortic diameters and comorbid diseases. The prevalence of the AAAs was 1.9%. Old age and male gender were significantly different between the groups (P < 0.001). The reason for applying computed tomography in 52 (50.5%) patients with AAA was associated with malignancy. In the evaluation of all patients in the study, the aortic diameter was determined to be larger in patients with malignancy than in patients without malignancy (18.07 ± 4.1 mm vs 17.7 ± 3.9 mm, respectively; P < 0.001). The thoracic aortic diameter was wider in patients with AAA compared to that in patients without AAA (37.2 ± 3.9 mm vs 33.9 ± 5.2 mm, respectively; P < 0.001). The presence of coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and a history of smoking in patients with AAA was significantly different from that of patients without AAA (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of hyperlipidaemia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P = 0.52 and P = 0.15, respectively). Screening of older men with diseases such as malignancy, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease for AAA is important for the early diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

We aimed to determine the outcome, complications, and quality of life effects of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of superficial venous insufficiency. A total of 134 extremities from 100 patients were evaluated in this retrospective study performed at the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of Atatürk University Faculty of Medicine. Treatment success was determined by occlusion. The clinical, etiologic, anatomic, and pathophysiologic (CEAP) and venous clinical severity score (VCSS) scores of patients were assessed pre- and postoperatively to evaluate clinical outcome and quality of life. The pain was assessed with the Wong-Baker score. Complications and their frequency were assessed and recorded. Treatment success, as measured by occlusion rate, was 99% percent. Prior to treatment, the CEAP clinical score was C2 (81.0%), while after treatment, it was C0 (54.0%) (p<0.001). The pretreatment median VCSS score was 5 (min-max: 1-9) while the post-treatment median was 1 (min-max: 1-3) (p<0.001). The mean pain score was 1.34; only one patient reported a score of 6 while the minimum score was 1. A total of 15 complications occurred; only one was a major complication (deep vein thrombosis or DVT) while the remaining 14 were minor complications. While longstanding surgical treatments still provide significant success, the RFA technique not only surpasses them in success rate but also in terms of pain, complications, and better patient satisfaction. The results of our study indicate that RFA is an effective and safe option for the treatment of superficial venous insufficiency.

Background: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of endovascular applications for the treatment of spontaneous iliac artery dissections. Methods: The medical records of 13 patients (12 males, 1 female; mean age 67.9±5.7 years; range, 58 to 75 years) with spontaneous iliac artery dissection between January 2017 and December 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The diagnosis of spontaneous iliac artery dissection was made based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, physical examination and imaging findings, and hybrid treatments applied during endovascular treatment were analyzed. Results: The mean follow-up was 12.5±1.1 (range, 6 to 16) months. Five patients received hybrid treatment during endovascular treatment. The re-entry site was closed by a patch plasty over the common femoral artery in one of these patients. Embolectomy was performed in the remaining four patients for the treatment of acute ischemia of the extremities. Since no patency could be achieved in two of the patients undergoing embolectomy, a femoropopliteal bypass was performed. The technical success and primary patency rates were 100%. No new false lumen formation, intra-stent occlusion or arterial occlusion was observed during the hospital stay and follow-up. Conclusion: Endovascular methods can be safely used in the treatment of spontaneous iliac artery dissections; however, hybrid treatments may be also required in selected cases. We believe that it is effective and safe to apply endovascular and hybrid treatments without preventing possible surgical treatments which may be required in the future.