High-resolution Computed Tomography Angiography Research Articles

Utilization of three-dimensional fusion images with high-resolution computed tomography angiography for preoperative evaluation of microvascular decompression: patient series.

High-resolution computed tomography (CT), outfitted with a 0.25-mm detector, has superior capability for identifying microscopic anatomical structures compared to conventional CT. This study describes the use of high-resolution computed tomography angiography (CTA) for preoperative microvascular decompression (MVD) assessment and explores the potential effectiveness of three-dimensional (3D) image fusion with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by comparing it with traditional imaging methods. Four patients who had undergone preoperative high-resolution CTA and MRI for MVD at Osaka University Hospital between December 2020 and March 2022 were included in this study. The 3D-reconstructed images and intraoperative findings were compared. One patient underwent conventional CTA, thus allowing for a comparison between high-resolution and conventional CTA in terms of radiation exposure and vascular delineation. Preoperative simulations reflected the intraoperative findings for all cases; small vessel compression of the nerve was identified preoperatively in two cases. Compared with conventional CTA, high-resolution CTA showed superior vascular delineation with no significant change in radiation exposure. The use of high-resolution CTA with reconstructed 3D fusion images can help to simulate prior MVD. Knowing the location of the nerves and blood vessels can perioperatively guide neurosurgeons.

Computed Tomography Assessment of the Retrolabyrinthine Approach.

Introduction This study aimed to evaluate preoperative radiological assessments of the retrolabyrinthine approach to identify and describe anatomical constraints that may anticipate a more challenging situation for neurosurgeons and otolaryngologists specialized in skull base surgery. Materials and methods The study included 75 adult patients who underwent high-resolution computed tomography angiography scans of the head, with the aim of analyzing the side of the dominance of the sigmoid sinus (SS), the level of pneumatization of the mastoid portion of the temporal bone, and the height of the jugular bulb. Results The results showed that dominant SS and type 2 jugular bulbs were more common on the right side, while smaller type 1 bulbs were significantly more common on the left. Conclusions These findings provide valuable information for neurosurgeons and otolaryngologists in predicting the difficulty of the retrolabyrinthine approach based on preoperative radiological assessments.

Complications in Patients with Chronic Type B Aortic Dissection (cTBAD)—A Long-Term Analysis

Chronic type B aortic dissection (cTBAD) is a rare but challenging condition that requires individual treatment strategies. Especially the long-term therapy impacts prognosis. In this single-center retrospective study, we evaluated patients with cTBAD in our vascular outpatient clinic over 10 years. Follow-up consultations included contrast-enhanced, electrocardiogram-triggered, high-resolution CT angiography (CTA) covering the entire aorta. Evaluated characteristics went beyond demographic characteristics combining the treatment approach and the timing and occurrence of potential complications. We analyzed 133 patients in total (n = 92, 69.2% male) with cTBAD with a mean follow-up of 67.7 months. Most of them underwent invasive treatment (n = 102, 76.7%), the majority received thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) (n = 82, 61.7%). A total of 80 patients (60.2%) had major complications, whereas over a third was free of complications even after 5 years. Most common complications were progress of dissection and endoleaks, aneurysms of true (TL) and false lumen (FL) were more common in the later time periods. The treatment of cTBAD in terms of timing, therapy approach, and complications is still challenging for the entire aortic team. Nevertheless, the early recognition of complications permits promising treatment options and highlights the importance of frequent follow-up examinations especially within the first years.

СИНДРОМ СРЕДИННОЙ ДУГООБРАЗНОЙ СВЯЗКИ (СИНДРОМ ДАНБАРА) КАК МУЛЬТИДИСЦИПЛИНАРНАЯ ПРОБЛЕМА. КЛИНИЧЕСКОЕ НАБЛЮДЕНИЕ И ЛИТЕРАТУРНАЯ СПРАВКА

Introduction. Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS, Dunbar syndrome) is a rare vascular compression syndrome caused by extravascular compression of the celiac trunk (CT) and celiac plexus by the median arcuate ligament of the diaphragm and is one of the causes of chronic abdominal ischemia and neuropathic pain syndrome. Clinical observation. A woman, 36 years old, was hospitalized with complaints of abdominal pain of moderate intensity, diarrhea up to 10 times a day, weight loss of 11 kg over the past year. Inflammatory bowel disease, gluten enteropathy, lymphoma of the small intestine, malabsorption syndrome, pathology of the endocrine system was excluded. Abdominal high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) angiography was performed. Signs of extravascular compression of CT up to 90% with a thickened median arcuate ligament with the formation of a U-shaped deformation were revealed. Laparoscopic decompression surgery was performed with simultaneous transluminal angioplasty, which led to a decrease in compression and disappearance of clinical symptoms. After 18 months, clinical improvement persisted, diarrhea disappeared. HRCT angiography and ultrasound duplex examination (USDE) showed sufficient blood flow in the CT system. During the follow-up period, the patient had moderate neuropathic pain and anxiety and depressive disorders requiring appropriate correction. Conclusion. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach to MALS should be patient-centered and requires the involvement of a team of specialists. Laparoscopic decompression is an effective treatment and can provide immediate symptoms relief. The results of the intervention can be assessed by HRCT angiography and USDE (methods supplementing each other). Correction of neuropathic pain syndrome and anxiety-depressive disorder is of great importance for improving the patient's quality of life.

Current status of perimesencephalic non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Perimesencephalic nonaneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (PNSAH) is a distinctive disease, representing SAH centered in perimesencephalic cisterns, with negative angiography findings. In recent years, the number of patients with PNSAH has increased significantly; however, the knowledge of PNSAH is insufficient. Therefore, we performed a review of the literature from a PubMed search and recounted our understanding of PNSAH. In this review, we summarized that current high-resolution computed tomography angiography is an acceptable replacement for digital subtraction angiography to rule out aneurysms in PNSAH with strict criteria. The current hypothesis about the etiology of PNSAH is that there is deep vein rupture from aberrant venous anatomy and increased intracranial venous pressure. PNSAH is associated with mild symptoms and lower rates of hydrocephalus and symptomatic vasospasm. For PNSAH, conservative treatment has been the mainstream treatment. PNSAH has a benign clinical course and an excellent prognosis; in long-term follow-up, re-bleeding and death were uncommon.

Severe Right Heart Failure in a Patient with Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease: A Diagnostic Challenge

A 55-year-old male was admitted for evaluation of severe dyspnoea and hypoxaemia. Physical examination upon admission showed elevated jugular venous pressure and an accentuated second heart sound. Chest radiograph showed cardiomegaly with increased bibasilar markings. Arterial blood gas analysis while breathing room air showed marked hypoxaemia. High resolution computed tomography angiography of the chest showed modestly enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes with discrete diffuse ground-glass attenuation especially at the lower lung zones. Positron emission tomography using 18F labelled 2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) demonstrated the mediastinal lymph nodes were FDG-avid. Transthoracic echocardiography showed dilated hypokinetic right heart chambers with bulging of the interventricular septum to the left, compatible with acute cor-pulmonale. From the tricuspid regurgitation jet measurement a systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) of 48 mmHg was estimated. Patent foramen ovale was suspected on bubble test. Right heart catheterisation confirmed pulmonary arterial hypertension: mPAP 47 mmHg, pulmonary artery occlusion pressure 5 mmHg, cardiac index 1.1 L/min/m2, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) 959 dyne.sec.cm(-5). Pulmonary function tests showed a marked diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) decrease of 32% predicted but no obstructive lung deficit. Before an open lung biopsy could be scheduled the patient developed acute cardiogenic shock. At autopsy pulmonary veno-occlusive disease with marked pulmonary hypertension was diagnosed.

Multiple Intracranial Aneurysms Presented with Subarachnoid Hemorrhage; Which to Secure and How?

BACKGROUND: Dealing with multiple intracranial aneurysms (MIA) presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is challenging. OBJECT: To make a proposal for the decision-making regarding which aneurysm to secure and how, as the most challenging part in the management of MIA. METHODS: This descriptive study included 25 patients presenting with SAH and having multiple intracranial aneurysms. All patients had a brain computed tomography (CT) scan, CT angiography (CTA), and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Patients were treated in our institution using microsurgical clipping and/or endovascular embolization according to the clinical and radiological situation. Functional outcome was assessed by modified Rankin scale. RESULTS: Fifteen females and 10 males with average age of 48 years were included. All patients (100%) presented with hemorrhage. Ten patients (40%) were hunt and Hess (HH 19 patients (76%) had 2 aneurysms and 6 patients (24%) had 3 aneurysms. Clipping was done for 40 aneurysms (71%), wrapping for 2 aneurysms (3%), 4 aneurysms (7%) were followed up, 8 aneurysms (14%) were coiled, and 2 aneurysms (3%) were treated by flow diverters. Twenty patients (80%) had a good outcome on the modified Rankin scale, 4 patients (16%) had mental changes and one patient (4%) had residual neurological deficit. CONCLUSION: The ruptured one in multiple intracranial aneurysms can be suspected by its size and wall irregularity especially in the absence of localizing sign in the CT scan. High-resolution CTA and/or 3D DSA are highly helpful. These cases should be managed in specialized centers where the surgical and endovascular treatment modalities are available.

박동성 이명의 진단과 치료의 최신 지견

Pulsatile tinnitus (PT), in general, is not related to pathology of the auditory system. Although PT is not as common as non-pulsatile tinnitus, the diagnosis and treatment of PT is important as it is reported to be found in as much as 4% of general population and treatable vascular causes are found in 44~91% of subjects with PT. Three types of vascular origins (arterial, arteriovenous, and venous) of pulsatile tinnitus exist and the main causes of pulsatile tinnitus are related to aberrant/ectopic, stenosis, diverticulum, bony wall dehiscence, or other pathologies of blood vessels, either arterial or venous. Brain MRI with angiography, temporal bone high-resolution CT, Doppler ultrasonography, and classical transfemoral cerebral angiography are radiological diagnostic tools for pulsatile tinnitus, but basic findings at the outpatients’ clinic such as subjective psychoacoustic nature of the PT, otoendoscopic findings, and audiologic features are also very important as these can be of great help for the physicians to obtain presumptive diagnostic impression for each subject with PT. Dehiscence/diverticulum of the sigmoid sinus one of the most common surgically correctable venous cause of PT. Additionally, benign intracranial hypertension is also a very common cause of PT that should not be forgotten in obese PT subjects with normal radiologic findings. In this review, diagnostic steps and appropriate surgical- or interventional management options for each cause of PT will be discussed in detail. (J Clinical Otolaryngol 2021;32:26-39)

Visualization of small visceral arteries on abdominal CT angiography using ultra-high-resolution CT scanner

PurposeTo evaluate the image quality and ability to delineate the small visceral arteries of high-resolution (HR) abdominal CT angiography (CTA) using an ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (UHR CT) scanner.Materials and methodsThirty-seven patients were enrolled who underwent abdominal CTA using a UHR CT scanner. The images were reconstructed with a matrix of 1024 × 1024 and 0.25 mm thickness for HR CTA and with a matrix of 512 × 512 and 0.5 mm thickness for normal resolution (NR) CTA. Maximum CT value, image quality, and delineation of the small arteries were compared between HR CTA and NR CTA.ResultsHR CTA showed significantly higher maximum CT value, higher image quality, and better delineation of the small arteries than did NR CTA (P < .005).ConclusionHR CTA using a UHR CT scanner showed higher image quality than NR CTA and enhanced the delineation of visceral arteries.

Management of Spontaneous Isolated Mesenteric Artery Dissection: A Systematic Review.

Background and Aims:There are increasing reports on case series on spontaneous isolated mesenteric artery dissection, that is, dissections of the superior mesenteric artery and celiac artery, mainly due to improved diagnostic capacity of high-resolution computed tomography angiography performed around the clock. A few case–control studies are now available, while randomized controlled trials are awaited.Material and Methods:The present systematic review based on 97 original studies offers a comprehensive overview on risk factors, management, conservative therapy, morphological modeling of dissection, and prognosis.Results and Conclusions:Male gender, hypertension, and smoking are risk factors for isolated mesenteric artery dissection, while the frequency of diabetes mellitus is reported to be low. Large aortomesenteric angle has also been considered to be a factor for superior mesenteric artery dissection. The overwhelming majority of patients can be conservatively treated without the need of endovascular or open operations. Conservative therapy consists of blood pressure lowering therapy, analgesics, and initial bowel rest, whereas there is no support for antithrombotic agents. Complete remodeling of the dissection after conservative therapy was found in 43% at mid-term follow-up. One absolute indication for surgery and endovascular stenting of the superior mesenteric artery is development of peritonitis due to bowel infarction, which occurs in 2.1% of superior mesenteric artery dissections and none in celiac artery dissections. The most documented end-organ infarction in celiac artery dissections is splenic infarctions, which occurs in 11.2%, and is a condition that should be treated conservatively. The frequency of ruptured pseudoaneurysm in the superior mesenteric artery and celiac artery dissection is very rare, 0.4%, and none of these patients were in shock at presentation. Endovascular therapy with covered stents should be considered in these patients.

Multi-scale residual denoising GAN model for producing super-resolution CTA images

Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is one of the salient radiological techniques in the virtualization and diagnosis of cerebral vascular diseases. However, there are various obstacles to the acquisition of highly legible CTA images, such as the lack of high-resolution CT scanners in community hospitals. And it is time-consuming for radiologists to perform CTA post-processing. These predicaments that medical institutions face make it necessary to automatically covert cerebrovascular images of low resolution to high-quality ones by means of artificial intelligence systems. In this paper, we propose a deep learning technique to improve the resolution of blurred CTA images. We develop MRDGAN, a novel generative adversarial network (GAN) model, to address the outstanding problems in CTA images such as high-frequency noise information (black pixels) and the scarcity of useful information (blood vessel pixels). We introduce spatial and channel attention into MRDGAN’s generator to facilitate feature extraction and incorporate a multi-scale residual block and a noise reduction block to retain micro vessels’ information and eliminate the noise in the generated images. Experiment results show that the CTA images generated by our model MRDGAN outperform the state-of-the-art models SRGAN and ESRGAN in terms of quality and quantity—MRDGAN obtains the highest score (35.89) in peak signal-to-noise ratio, showing a great potential as a low-cost solution of acquiring high-resolution CTA images.

High-resolution chest CT angiography of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia: a longitudinal prospective study

Background: Vascular findings in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are not systematically described using 384-row state-of-the-art chest CT angiography (CTA). The relationship between CT-CTA features and arterial blood gas (ABG) parameters is not fully understood.

Clinical study on endoscopic surgery for soft tissue necrosis of cranial base after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the diagnosis and surgical treatment of patients with soft tissue necrosis of cranial base after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: The clinical data of 7 NPC patients with soft tissue necrosis but not bone necrosis after radiotherapy were retrospectively analyzed.They were treated in Xiangya Hospital from 2015 to 2019. The clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis were analyzed. The major clinical symptoms of the 7 patients were headache in 7 cases, hearing loss in 7 cases, long-term nasal malodor in 5 cases and epistaxis in 2 cases. All patients underwent high-resolution CT, MR and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) before operation. All cases were treated with extended transnasal endoscopic approach under general anesthesia for resection of necrotic tissue. Five cases had their affected cartilaginous segments of the eustachian tubes partially or completely resected, 7 cases were treated with myringotomy and tube insertion, and 1 case was treated with pansinusectomy. Anti-inflammatory treatment were carried out during the perioperative period. The recovery of patients was observed and recorded through regular follow-up (from 6 months to 3 years) after the operation. Results: Nasopharynx soft tissue lesions can be seen in seven patients with bone cortex integrity by CT, and small bubble shadow can be seen at junction area between skull base soft tissue lesions and skull base bone surface.MR and MRA examination showed extensive inflammatory changes of nasopharynx. Parapharyngeal irregular necrotic cavity was found in 6 cases without central enhancement, demonstrating edema of surrounding soft tissue. The necrotic tissue of all 7 patients was surgically removed. Postoperative pathological examinations confirmed that all of them were necrotic soft and cartilaginous tissue, without tumor recurrence. The symptoms of all patients were significantly alleviated after operation. Headache was cured in 5 cases and relieved in 2 cases. Nasal malodor was cured in 4 cases and alleviated in 1 case. During the follow-up period, 5 patients survived, and 2 patients who had their eustachian tube reserved died. One of them died of nasopharyngeal hemorrhage caused by recurrent nasopharyngeal necrosis 3 months after the operation. Another case died of severe intracranial infection 6 months after operation. Conclusions: The diagnosis of skull base soft tissue necrosis after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma needs comprehensive analysis of radiotherapy history, clinical manifestations and imaging examination. High resolution CT, MR and MRA of skull base are very important for diagnosis. Early active removal of large-scale necrotic lesions under endoscope and partial or total resection of eustachian tube cartilage according to the involvement of eustachian tube cartilage is effective means of controling skull base soft tissue necrosis after radiotherapy. The effective means of necrosis can improve the quality of life of patients.

Aneurysms of the communicating segment of the internal carotid artery with posterior communicating artery agenesis are associated with perforator infarction after embolization

BackgroundWhile anatomic features associated with the risk of posterior communicating artery (PcoA) occlusion after embolization of aneurysms of the PcoA segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA) are well known,...

Use of a Custom-made Four-Vessel Fenestrated Endograft to Repair an Enlarging Juxtarenal Aneurysm With Type IA Endoleak After Prior ZFEN Repair

A 73-year-old woman with a history of a 6-cm juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm who underwent a fenestrated endovascular aortic repair using the Zenith fenestrated endovascular (ZFEN) device (Cook Medical, Bloomington, Ind) presented with a type IA endoleak found on routine surveillance computed tomography angiography (CTA). The previously placed ZFEN device included a scallop for the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and bilateral stented fenestrations to the renal arteries. A custom-made fenestrated endovascular aortic endograft was designed on the basis of measurements obtained from high-resolution CTA images on a three-dimensional workstation using standard centerline flow orthogonal techniques (TeraRecon, Foster City, Calif). The graft design included fenestrations to the celiac artery, SMA, and bilateral renal arteries. The main body fenestrated graft was designed with a modified preloaded delivery system using a preloaded cannulation catheter for the bilateral renal artery fenestrations. Balloon-expandable bridging stent grafts were deployed through the fenestrations to the SMA and bilateral renal arteries. The celiac artery was found to be occluded and covered with an aortic cuff to eliminate the potential for an endoleak. Completion angiography showed excellent stent graft architecture with no kinks or component separations, no evidence of endoleak, and patent visceral branches. The 1-month surveillance imaging demonstrated elimination of the type IA endoleak, patent stent grafts, and a small type II endoleak arising from a lumbar artery. Type IA endoleak from prior ZFEN repair can be successfully treated with a custom-designed fenestrated endovascular aortic endograft.

What are the right Glissonean pedicle anatomical variations at risk of failure of Glissonean approach during right hépatectomy

Background: Some anatomical variations of the right Glissonian pedicle (RGP) have been identified as at risk of clamping failure during right hepatectomy. The objective of this study was to characterize the anatomical variations of the RGP at risk of clamping failure based on abdominal CT-angiography (CTA) on a large population. Material and methods: This was a retrospective analysis of CTA performed prospectively as part of the PIXEL study (specific protocol of high-resolution CTA performed for evaluation of liver metastasis). Analysis were performed by two radiologists with routine 3D-reconstruction. Anatomical variations were classified according to Madoff's classification (4 types). Anatomical variations at risk of failure of RGP clamping were type 1 to 3 and an angle measuring < 50° between the portal vein and the left portal branch. The primary endpoint was the rate of normal anatomy. The secondary endpoints were the rate and type of variations, rate of predictable RGP clamping failure, rate of RGP incomplete or extended clamping. Results: The study population included 346 CTA. Normal portal anatomy was found in 245 patients (71%). Concerning anatomical variations, type 1 was 11%, type 2 was 17%, type 3 was 0.8% and no type 4. There was 4.5% of patients with normal anatomy and an angle < 50°. The predictable failure rate of selective control of the RGP was 33.8% (n=117). Extension of clamping were seen in 16% while incomplete clamping were seen in 17.8%. Conclusion: Normal anatomy was present in 71%. Failure of right Glissonian approach was predictable in 33.8%.

A Description of the Vascular Anatomy of the Tensor Fascia Lata Perforator Flap Using Computed Tomography Angiography.

The perforator anatomy of the tensor fascia lata (TFL) flap has been studied using cadaver dissection; however, exact descriptions of location, size, and origin of perforator vessels using preoperative imaging modalities remain limited. The aims of this study are to describe TFL perforator anatomy using high-resolution computed tomography angiography (CTA) and to correlate these findings with landmarks for the anterolateral thigh flap to facilitate flap planning. We identified 33 patients who previously underwent bilateral lower extremity CTAs for preoperative planning of free-flap reconstruction. The images were retrospectively reviewed, and the TFL perforator number, size, type, location, and overall pedicle origin and length were recorded. Thirty-three patients and 59 thighs were included in the study. There was an average of 2.5 perforators per TFL. All perforators arose from the ascending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery with an average pedicle length of 8.3 cm (range, 6.0-11.2 cm). Sixty-six percent of perforators were septocutaneous and 34% were musculocutaneous. The average perforator size as measured on CTA was 3 mm. The average perforator location was 10.1 cm inferior and 8.5 cm lateral to the line drawn from the anterior superior iliac spine to the superolateral patella. To our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize the vascular anatomy of the TFL perforator flap using high-resolution CTA and correlate this with well-established landmarks used in the planning for other thigh-based flaps. We believe data will facilitate flap design and dissection; potentially shortening operating room times, limiting exploratory incisions used to confirm the presence of thigh based perforators, and improving overall outcomes for patients.

Abstract 94: Ultra-Fast Performance and Yield of a High-Resolution CT With Head and Neck CT Angiography on a Mobile Stroke Unit

Background: MSU’s are capable of ultra-early treatment of acute stroke patients in the field. We tested field use of a high-resolution CT and CT-angiography on our MSU. Methods: We designed and implemented the first of its kind MSU equipped with a 16 slice CT scanner (24-row adaptive detector array, fixed 70 cm gantry, auto-injection system, Somatom Scope, Siemens), led by stroke fellowship trained MDs or ANVP-board certified nurse practitioners without telemedicine support. Head/neck CTA was performed on all suspected stroke patients immediately following noncontrast CT. The MSU is embedded within local Fire/EMS and is activated by 911, or by on-scene medics 14 days/month. Transport and drug re-stock agreements were developed with Comprehensive, Primary, and CSC-Capable (CSC-cap) competing stroke centers. Results: Of 420 activations in the first year, our MSU transported a total 206 patients: 127 (62%) strokes and 79 (38%) stroke mimics. In all 127 acute stroke patients (68±16 years, 58% women, 65% African American, 34% White, 1% Hispanic), median CT/CTA completion time, from start of scan, to images ready for diagnostic viewing, was 3.5 minutes (IQR 3-4). Diagnosis was 15 (12%) hemorrhages, 12 (9%) suspected TIA, 100 (79%) acute ischemic stroke (AIS). AIS median NIHSS was 9, IQR 7-17. IV-tPA treatment rate was 38% with median scene arrival to bolus time of 13 min, IQR 11-16. Large vessel occlusion (LVO) was found in 30% of ischemic strokes. No patients required repeat imaging on arrival due to image quality, and 100% were accurately triaged to CSC, PSC, or CSC-cap hospitals without the need for subsequent transfer. Conclusions: MSUs can effectively operate a high-resolution automated CT similar to in-hospital radiology settings. The addition of head/neck CTA in the field yields a high rate of LVO detection supporting definitive prehospital triage to Comprehensive Stroke Centers.

Cochlear Implantation in a Patient With Pfeiffer Syndrome and Temporal Bone Vascular Anomalies.

Pfeiffer syndrome is a rare craniosynostotic disorder resulting in premature bony fusion of the skull, which can result in abnormal temporal bone and vascular anatomy and hearing loss. Cochlear implantation in these patients requires thoughtful surgical planning given the potential for limited access to the cochlea because of subcutaneous or intratemporal vasculature. Herein, we present a patient with Pfeiffer syndrome who underwent successful cochlear implantation using preoperative Doppler ultrasound to identify large extracranial venous anatomy followed by a modified transcanal surgical approach. An adult female patient with Pfeiffer syndrome. Preoperative axial computed tomography, catheter angiography, Doppler ultrasound, and right side cochlear implant. Surgical feasibility and audiometric outcomes including aided thresholds and word recognition score. Successful cochlear implantation was performed via a modified transcanal approach with blind sac closure of the external auditory meatus. Full electrode insertion was obtained through a round window approach. No extracranial or intratemporal vessels were encountered during surgery. Patients with significant craniosynostoses and vascular malformations of the temporal bone can undergo successful cochlear implantation. Careful preoperative planning with high-resolution CT, MRA, and MRV, and/or traditional catheter angiography can assist in determining surgical feasibility and minimizing risk. We recommend preoperative Doppler ultrasound of abnormal extracranial vessels to assist in safe placement of incisions and hardware.

Aortoaxillary bypass during cardiac operation

The aim of the present study was to analyze our experience in the use of the aortoaxillary bypass during cardiac operation in a limited series of patients with proximal atherosclerotic lesion of the subclavian artery combined with cardiac disease amenable to surgical treatment. Of 1953 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac operation at our unit between April 2009 and July 2012, nine (0.5%; four women and five men; mean age 69.0 ± 6.2 years) suffered from symptomatic occlusive disease of the subclavian artery, and underwent concomitant aortoaxillary bypass. A ring-reinforced polytetrafluoroethylene vascular graft was anastomosed to the proximal segment of the axillary artery, introduced into the pleural cavity through the first or the second intercostal space, and anastomosed to the ascending aorta. All perioperative data were collected prospectively. Seven (77.8%) left and two (22.2%) right aortoaxillary bypasses were achieved. Ten concomitant cardiac operations were performed. There were no early postoperative complications related to the subclavian artery revascularization. At a mean follow-up of 27.3 ± 15.5 months, both the symptoms of the subclavian artery disease and those of the heart disease improved. High-resolution computed tomography angiography confirmed an excellent patency of the aortoaxillary bypass in all the patients but one. Concomitant aortoaxillary bypass and cardiac operation may be an option to keep in mind for patients with coexisting subclavian artery occlusion and heart disease, after the evidence that the combined operation does not increase the risk. Attention should be paid to the course of the bypass graft toward the axillary artery.