The purpose of this study is to determine the diagnosis means, the surgical management and the prognosis of patients with intracavitary cardiac hydatid cyst. We report a series of seven patients. The diagnosis was orientated by coexisting pulmonary locations in all patients. The cyst was located in the right cardiac chambers. Cardiopulmonary bypass with aortic cross clamping and cardioplegia was necessary in all cases. The postoperative course was satisfactory for all patients. There was a recurrence of pulmonary cysts in all patients after a mean duration of 42 months. Medical treatment (Albendazole) was instituted. One late death occurred at 3 years of follow-up due to chronic right heart failure. In conclusion, cardiac hydatid cysts with intracavitary location must be suspected in patients with pulmonary or systemic embolization. Early surgical treatment is necessary and medical treatment must be instituted after surgery.

Pancreaticoduodenal arcade aneurysms are rare. Untreated, these lesions enlarge progressively and have the potential for spontaneous rupture. Aneurysmal degeneration of pancreaticoduodenal arcade vessels is known to be associated with celiac artery occlusion, vasculitis, and certain connective tissue disorders. Given their precarious location, surgical expiration is a challenging endeavor. Innovations in endovascular techniques offer a possible alternative. We report a case of a 55-year-old gentleman with a 2.2x2.1-cm aneurysm of one of the inferior pancreaticoduodenal arteries and a concomitant finding of occlusion of the celiac artery trunk. Percutaneous coil embolization of the aneurysm was employed as the treatment in this case with the successful exclusion of the aneurysm sac, while maintaining continuity of the native circulation. This case report demonstrates that, due to the success rate of aneurysm exclusion and the relatively low morbidity and mortality rates seen with endovascular repair as compared to surgical intervention, endovascular treatment has become the treatment of choice for pancreaticoduodenal artery aneurysms.

Angiographies of 384 patients who had coronary artery bypass surgery because of left main coronary artery (LMCA) obstruction during 1970-1989 were reviewed by analysing the pathology, feasibility of surgical angioplasty and survival. Complete LMCA occlusion was found in 2%, proximal ostial stenosis in 9%, mid-shaft stenosis in 24%, circular stenosis in 25% and distal bifurcation stenosis in 40% of the patients. Patients with an ostial stenosis were younger, more often women with less coronary artery disease and less calcified obstructions. Surgical angioplasty could have been an option in 22% of the patients. Early mortality was higher in patients with (4.7%) than in those without (1.9%) LMCA obstruction. The relative risk (RR) of early death was 1.9 (95% CL 1.1-3.5) after adjustment for patient characteristics. Similarly, the RR at 10 years was 1.3 (95% CL 1.0-1.6). LMCA obstruction was associated with an early and long-term increased mortality after surgery compared to patients without LMCA obstruction.

We report the case of a 35-year-old female with acute massive right pulmonary embolism, successfully treated by a minimally invasive off-pump pulmonary embolectomy-the first case in the literature implemented via the J-ministernotomy.

We have evaluated the safety and efficacy of routine beta-blockade for the prevention of cardiac complications in a comprehensive series of patients undergoing major vascular surgery and amputation for atherosclerotic arterial disease. From 1 December 2001 to 31 May 2002, patients received perioperative beta-blockade by atenolol. Outcomes in this period were compared to the immediately antecedent 6 months. The main outcome measure was the occurrence of cardiac complications. Fifty-three patients underwent surgery in the first period and 54 in the second. After introduction of routine beta-blockade, only one patient suffered cardiac complications compared to 10 in the first period (P=0.01). There were eight deaths in the first and two in the second period (P=0.052). On multivariate analysis, treatment with beta-blockers was the only variable significantly associated with a decrease in cardiac morbidity (OR=0.12; 95% CI=0.002-0.66; P=0.014). Two patients suffered bronchospasm leading to discontinuation of atenolol. Routine perioperative beta-blockade was safe and reduced the occurrence of cardiac complications after vascular surgery.

Endoaneurysmorrhaphy is mostly performed on anterior-septal left ventricular (LV) aneurysms. It may also be applied to posterior aneurysms, which is technically more challenging. Whether the surgical risk is the same, irrespective of the location of the aneurysm, has not been studied before. We reviewed our experience with 158 patients (62+/-9 years, 72% male) undergoing endoaneurysmorrhaphy. Eleven patients (7%) had posterior LV aneurysms. Perioperative mortality was 5.7%. Of all preoperative and surgical variables tested, the presence of a posterior LV aneurysm (p=0.017), concomitant mitral valve surgery (p=0.008) and duration of extracorporal circulation (p=0.001) were significantly associated with higher perioperative mortality. However, patients with posterior LV aneurysms had more severe heart failure (p=0.0061) and a higher LV end diastolic volume index (138+/-38 vs. 102+/-41 ml/kg body weight; p=0.040) than patients with antero-septal LV aneurysms. Further studies are needed to determine whether the location of the aneurysm is a risk factor for mortality irrespective of the clinical presentation.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumen of the carotid artery, or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the carotid, has gone through a long evolutionary period to become a routine imaging modality in many centers. Further improvements are becoming available. There are better gradients available for scanners, high resolution neck surface coils allow improved signal to noise ratios, and contrast agents which have a longer intravascular dwell time are about to be introduced. Thus, further evolution of this modality will result in continued improvement in our ability to define the vascular lumenal edge and give the added advantage of in vivo plaque imaging. At present, these newer developments are available only in research centers.