PURPOSE To determine the criteria that would make use of an endovascular device cost-effective compared with bypass surgery and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in the treatment of femoropopliteal arterial disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS A decision model was developed to compare treatment with the use of a hypothetical endovascular device with established therapies. Cost-effectiveness fro...

UNLABELLED Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is used to revascularize ischemic myocaydium affected by coronary artery obstruction. Conventional coronary angiography (CCA) is an invasive method used for graft evaluation. Nowadays, in post CABG patients grafts can be assessed noninvasively by using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). AIM To determine the late patency rate...

PURPOSE The aim of this study is to compare the long-term graft patency between patients who had sequential or individual right posterior descending artery (RPDA) anastomosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and forty-two patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) between June 1994 and December 2003. They were examined retrospectively with respect to coronary angiograghic dat...

BACKGROUND The endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) method has been used in coronary artery bypass surgery in many countries. We started using the EVH method recently, and investigated the results during the early learning period. METHODS Between March 2012 and June 2014, 75 patients (31 patients in the EVH method group, and 44 patients in the open method group) who underwent isolated first-time ...

Comparison of aortocoronary saphenous vein graft status at two weeks and at one year was made in two series of patients. The early postoperative evaluation includes 122 patients of the first 138 operated in our institution (182 grafts) and 83 subjects from a second series of 100 patients operated after modifications of surgical techniques (184 grafts). The one-year follow-up study was obtained ...

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the standard surgical procedure for the treatment of advanced coronary artery disease. CABG surgery has been demonstrated to improve symptoms and, in specific subgroups of patients, to prolong life. Despite its success, the long-term outcome of coronary bypass surgery is strongly influenced by the fate of the vascular conduits used. Impressive long-term...

To determine the efficacy of using stents and stent grafts for treatment of hemodialysis graft-related stenoses which have failed angioplasty. This retrospective study was composed of 51 patients with polytetrafluoroethylene hemodialysis grafts who underwent angioplasty of a graft-related stenosis but subsequently required insertion of a stent or stent graft. The study group included 40 patient...

The poor patency rate following small-diameter vascular grafting remains a major hurdle for the widespread clinical application of artificial blood vessels to date. Our previous studies found that electrospun poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) (P[LLA-CL]) nanofibers facilitated the attachment and growth of endothelial cells (EC), and heparin incorporated into P(LLA-CL) nanofibers was able ...

The technique and the results of microsurgical vasectomy reversal in a single-centre study over 18 years are presented. Both vasovasostomy (VV) and epididymovasostomy (EV) were carried out in a three-layer technique. With strict adherence to the strategy, end-to-end VV was only performed if spermatozoa had been demonstrated at the epididymal stump of the vas. In all other cases, EV was carried ...

OBJECTIVE Arteriovenous fistulae traditionally have been placed in the upper extremity. Experience with groin hemodialysis access has been discouraging because of high infection rates and associated limb amputation. We reviewed our experience with angioaccess grafts in the groin to assess safety and viability in our hemodialysis patient population. METHODS A retrospective review was performed...