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Biomedical subjects

O Martinelli

Publications and source records attributed to O Martinelli.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

[Carotid-carotid bypass. Indications and results].

AIM: The aim of this study is to evaluate the indications for a carotid-carotid bypass and its therapeutic efficacy. METHODS: Between January 1995 and December 2001, 42 out of 782 patients with obstructive lesions of carotid vessels were submitted to carotid-carotid bypass. Preoperative investigations included Duplex scanning, transcranial Doppler and cerebral CT in all the patients, angiography in 24, spiral CT in 8, MR angiography in 6. Carotid bypass was planned pre-operatively in 13 cases due to internal carotid occlusion in 4, to pseudo-occlusion in 8 and to restenosis in 1. In the remaining 29, due to a too thin residual wall or to the lack of a good clivage plane, a carotid bypass was planned intraoperatively. A PTFE graft was employed in 30 cases while the autologous saphenous vein in 12. Four patients were lost in a 12-80-month follow-up. No intra or postoperative mortality was recorded. RESULTS: Three patients died during the follow-up. In 1 patient the death followed an ischemic stroke due to bypass occlusion. Four bypasses became occluded, in 3 cases without clinical signs. Eight patients suffered by transient superior laryngeal nerve iniury. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid bypass, as an alternative to CEA, provides good results in the treatment of the patients with carotid stenosis, pseudo-occlusion or segmental occlusion. In most of the cases the surgical technique is planned intraoperatively but in selected cases angiographic findings, spiral CT and color flow duplex can suggest in the preoperative phase that carotid bypass is the best choice.

Carotid Arteries↗
PubMed2000

Carotid surgery without angiography is possible and safe.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the possibility to perform carotid surgery without angiography. METHODS: From January 1994 to June 1998, 514 patients with carotid obstructive disease were operated upon, 225 of them (43.8%) without previous angiography; 55 out of 68 (80.8%) during the last six months. Eighty-one (36.0%) had lateralizing symptoms, 50 aspecific ones (22.2%) and 94 were asymptomatic (41.8%). All patients were investigated by color-coded duplex sonography (CDS) of the arteries at the neck and by transcranial Doppler (TCD) and computed tomography (CT). One hundred eighty-eight patients were operated upon under local anaesthesia and 37 under general anesthesia; 204 had a carotid endartereotomy (90.7%) with patch angioplasty in 154 (75.5%), and 21 required a bypass graft (9.3%). In 26 patients (11.5%) an indwelling shunt was needed. RESULTS: Findings at surgery were consistent with CDS for plaque composition, ulcerations and degree of stenosis. There were no early deaths. Neurologic or ocular deficits occurred in 2 cases (0.9%). No strokes were observed in follow-up from 6 to 34 months. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid endarterectomy can be done without angiography in selected cases provided CDS plus TCD are of high quality. Under such conditions it can be considered a safer way to deal with carotid obstructive disease.

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PubMed1997

Transcranial Doppler in 178 patients before, during, and after carotid endarterectomy.

From July 1991 to March 1995, 178 patients who underwent 198 carotid surgical repairs were investigated preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively by transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD). Preoperative TCD evaluation showed stenosis of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in 4 patients (2.2%), siphon stenosis in 3 (1.6%), incomplete circle of Willis in 23 (12.9%), a decrease of mean blood flow velocity more than 70% of the basal value during digital common carotid compression in 31 (17.9%), and a critical reduction of vasomotor reactivity (no significant increase of mean blood flow velocity in the MCA during breath-holding test) in 34 (19.1%). Nine patients (5%) had surgery without preoperative angiography. In those patients the indication for surgery was based on color Doppler imaging and TCD investigations. Ninety surgical procedures were carried out under general anesthesia and 188 under locoregional anesthesia. In 37 surgeries (31.7%) a shunt was inserted. The use of a shunt was based on a decrease of mean blood flow velocity in the MCA below 50% of the basal value under general anesthesia or loss of consciousness combined with a decrease of mean blood flow velocity in the MCA higher than 70% of the basal value when locoregional anesthesia was employed. Intraoperative TCD monitoring showed a decrease of mean blood flow velocity in the MCA due to shunt malfunction in (8.3%) of 36 surgeries, turbulence of blood flow during declamping in 79 procedures (39.8%), and microembolic events in 10 patients (5%) that were related to one transient and one permanent neurological deficit. Another permanent deficit occurred in a patient without TCD signs. After surgery, TCD reliably detected an early asymptomatic occlusion of the carotid artery, hyperperfusion syndrome in 12 (6.0%), and an increase of vasomotor reactivity in 10 (29.4%) of 34 surgeries.

Anesthesia, Conduction↗
PubMed1996

Composite grafts for critical ischaemia.

A total of 236 femoropopliteal below the knee and 64 femorotibial bypasses were carried out for critical ischaemia of the lower limbs using various prosthetic materials. These were evaluated in order to assess the patency of composite grafts (29 cases) compared with autogenous saphenous veins (189) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) (82). The composite graft was made by anastomosing a segment of autogenous vein in the distal position and joining it by an end-to-end oblique anastomosis to a PTFE prosthesis in the proximal position. These grafts were employed when an adequate autogenous vein could not be used for the entire length of the bypass. The graft-graft anastomosis was never placed near the knee-joint and if the PTFE segment had to cross the knee, it was always of the externally supported type. There were no early occlusions in the composite grafts. A total of 257 grafts were available for assessment at a mean of 4 years (range 6 months to 15 years). The patency for autologous saphenous vein was: 81.2% (121/142 femoropopliteal and 13/23 femorotibial). The patency for PTFE was 67.1% (41/58 femoropopliteal and 4/9 femorotibial) and for composite grafts was 76% (10/11 femoropopliteal and 9/14 femorotibial). There was no significant difference in patency between the autologous saphenous vein and the composite grafts, both in the femoropopliteal and femorotibial positions. Both were significantly better than PTFE grafts. Composite grafts are the best alternative when an autologous saphenous vein is not available.

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PubMed1995

[Considerations on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy of renal venous aneurysm].

An aneurysms of a renal vein is very uncommon an entity and even more so when a visceral vein is affected. The venous aneurysms are generally asymptomatic and are detected either at post-mortem examination or by Echography, CT scan or MR investigation. Occasionally they become symptomatic because of rupture, thrombosis and embolism, but even in those cases they are difficult to be diagnosed and can be life threatening particularly when bleeding occurs. Exceptionally an aneurysm of a visceral vein is an unexpected intraoperative finding and is detected during an abdominal procedure undertaken for other pathology. In our experience a true aneurysm of the main trunk of the left renal vein was detected during a procedure of aorto-bifemoral by-pass graft repair for chronic aorto-iliac occlusive disease. The aneurysm was resected and the vein repaired by direct suture. Congenital weakness of the vein wall was very likely the cause as suggested by the extreme thinness and media atrophy of the aneurysm and normal appearance of the wall of renal vein and inferior vena cava. Differences between varices and aneurysms of the renal veins are discussed as well as indications for surgical treatment.

Aneurysm↗
PubMed1993

External carotid artery repair in cerebrovascular insufficiency.

From January 1985 to October 1992 ten patients were submitted to reconstruction of the external carotid artery (ECA). Nine were males and one female with age that ranged from 64 to 74 years, mean 68. All were symptomatic due to TIAs in seven and amaurosis fugax in four of this group, previous completed stroke plus TIAs in two and chronic low perfusion in one. Associated risk factors were smoking (8 pts: 80%), coronary disease (5 pts: 50%), hypertension (4 pts: 40%), diabetes (4 pts: 40%) and peripheral arterial obstructive disease (2 pts: 20%). All patients were submitted to non invasive (Doppler C. W., Echo-color Doppler) studies as well as angiography. All the patients had an occlusion of the internal carotid artery (ICA) unilateral and homolateral to external carotid stenosis in 8 and bilateral in 2; in addition three patients had a non haemodynamic stenosis of the contralateral ICA. One patient had an occlusion of the common carotid artery with collateral supply to the ECA; nine had severe stenosis of the ECA at the origin. In one case a homolateral vertebral stenosis was detected as well as a prevertebral contralateral subclavian stenosis in another one. Surgery was advised to correct amaurosis fugax, to increase external-internal collateral supply in order to avoid cerebral ischaemia and prior to contralateral ICA endarterectomy. All patients were operated upon under general anesthesia; an endarterectomy with a PTFE patch was performed in 9 cases, while in one a subclavian-ECA bypass was carried out using an autologous vein segment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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