• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 2011

Background: Mature autogenous arteriovenous fistulas have better long term patency and require fewer secondary interventions compared to arteriovenous prosthetic graft. Our Study evaluated vascular patency rates and incidence of interventions in autogenous arteriovenous fistulas and grafts. Material and Methods: A total of 166 vascular access operations were performed in 153 patients between December 2002 and November 2009. Thirty seven caeses were excluded due to primary access failure and loss of follow-up. One group of 92 autogenous arterioveous fistulas and the other group of 37 arteriovenous prosthetic grafts were evaluated retrospectively. Primary and secondary patency rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: The primary patency rate (84%, 67%, 51% vs. 51%, 22%, 9% at 1, 3, 5 year; p=0.0000) and secondary patency rate (96%, 88%, 68% vs. 88%, 65%, 16% at 1, 3, 5 year; p=0.0009) were better in autogenous fistula group than prosthetic graft group. Interventions to maintain secondary patency were required in 23% of the autogenous fistula group (average 0.06 procedures/patient/year) and 65% of prosthetic graft group (average 0.21 procedures/patient/year). So the autogenous fistula group had fewer intervention rate than prosthetic graft group (p=0.01) The risk factor of primary patency was diabetus combined with ischemic heart disease and the secondary patency's risk factor was age. Conclusion: Autogenous arteriovenous fistulas showed better performance compared to prosthetic grafts in terms of primary & secondary patency and incidence of interventions.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.178-183
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• 2024

Background: The superficial veins are commonly used in conventional autogenous arteriovenous fistulas and the placement of prosthetic grafts. When they are unsuitable, however, the use of the deep veins (venae comitantes) is generally considered to be a reasonable alternative. This study conducted a comparative analysis of clinical outcomes for arteriovenous grafts between 2 groups based on the type of venous outflow: superficial veins or venae comitantes. Methods: In total, 151 patients who underwent arteriovenous grafts from November 2005 to March 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group A (superficial veins, n=89) and group B (venae comitantes, n=62). The primary, secondary patency, and complication rates were analyzed in each group. A propensity score-matched analysis was performed. Results: In total, 55 well-balanced pairs were matched. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed no significant differences in the primary patency rate between the 2 groups at 1-year, 3-year and 5-year intervals (group A, 54.7%, 35.9%, 25.4% vs. group B, 47.9%, 16.8%, 12.6%; p=0.14), but there was a difference in the secondary patency rate (group A, 98.2%, 95.3%, 86.5% vs. group B, 87.3%, 76.8%, 67.6%; p=0.0095). The rates of complications, simple percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, and stent insertion were comparable between the groups. Conclusion: Although this study demonstrated not particularly favorable secondary patency rates in the venae comitantes group, the venae comitantes may still be a viable option for patients with unsuitable superficial veins because there were no significant differences in the primary patency and complication rates between the 2 groups.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.487-491
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• 2009

Background: Salvaging prosthetic arteriovenous grafts can be performed using surgical or endovascular techniques. We conducted a retrospective analysis to compare the efficacy of these two methods for restoring dialysis graft function. Material and Method: We studied 41 patients who had received surgical thrombectomy with revision (Group A) or percutaneous thrombectomy with angioplasty (Group B) from January 2006 to December 2007. We compared them according to the patient characteristics and the location of stenotic lesions, and we analyzed the post-intervention primary patency rates. Result: 21 patients underwent surgery and 20 patients underwent percutaneous balloon angioplasty. There were no significant differences of the patients' characteristics between the two groups. Venous anastomotic stenosis was the most common cause of graft thrombosis in both groups. In Group A, 90.5% of the grafts remained functional at 6 months and 38.1% remained functional at 12 months. In Group B, 55.0% of the grafts were functional at 6 months and 20.0% of the grafts were functional at 12 months. The post-intervention primary patency rate was significantly better in Group A (p=0.034). Conclusion: Surgical treatment resulted in significantly longer post-intervention primary patency in this study, and this supports its use as the primary method of management for most patients in whom dialysis graft obstruction develops.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 1976

One hundred and seventy-four patients were treated in this Department since 1956. One hundred and fifteen patients of them were surgically treated. They were classified on the basis of the disease entity as follows; 48 case of thrombo-angiitis obliterance, 8 cases of Leriche syndrome, 12 cases of arterial embolism, 36 arterial aneurysm, 5 arterio-venous fistula, 15 arterial and venous injuries, 8 pulseless diseases, 2 coarctation of aortas, 15 varicose veins, 12 thrombophlebitis, 9 superior venacaval syndromes, 2 inferior vena caval obstructions and Raynaud's diseases. All the cases of the Burger's diseases were males, and half of them were in the fourth decades, 39 cases underwent undergone unilateral or bilateral sympathectomies. All the Leriche syndromes were males aged over fifty. Three cases out of six were suffering from diabetes mellitus. 2 cases underwent aorto-femoral bypass graft with Y-shaped dacrons. And two embolectomies were performed in 2 cases. Eight cases of arterial embolisms among 12 had mitral valvular diseases with auricular fibrillation The most common site of lodgement of emboli was femoral artery. Nine out of 14 underwent embolectomies with Fogarty catheters. There were 14 peripheral arterial aneurysms, 16 thoracic and/or abdominal aortic aneurysms, and 4 dissecting aneurysms. Most frequent cause of peripheral arterial aneurysms were external trauma. Thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms were non-traumatic. And four cases of the dissecting aneurysms had significant hypertension and aged over fifty. Among 5 cases of arteriovenous fistulas, 2 cases hand typical Branham's sign, and they were normalized after operation. Eight cases of pulseless disease were females and aged from three to twenty-five. Three out of them were treated surgically using dacron prosthetic grafts, but the results of the surgery were variable and not satisfactory. A case of coarctation of aorta was treated surgically with an excellent result. Fourteen out of 15 varicose veins underwent ligation of the saphenous vein system, exstirpation of the varicose veins, stripping or some combination of these methods. Two cases of superior vena caval syndromes were operated by bypass graft between the left innominate vein and the right auricle. Two cases of inferior vena caval obstructions were operated upon through right atrial route using extracorporial circulation. All the four cases of vena caval obstructions showed excellent results postoperatively. Two cases out of 12 thrombophlebitis underwent thrombectomies. One of two Raynaud's diseases was surgically treated with an excellent result.