There were no substantial differences in technical results and clinical outcomes of the two treatment strategies both at short-term and long-term follow-up. Since angioplasty followed by selective stent placement is less expensive than direct placement of a stent, the former seems to be the treatment of choice for lifestyle-limiting intermittent claudication caused by iliac artery occlusive disease.

There is a clear and consistent disagreement in reported mortality rates between hospital-based and population-based studies of elective surgery for AAA. Prospective studies give the best documentation of postoperative morbidity.

Background and Purpose-Carotid endarterectomy has been shown to be beneficial in symptomatic patients with a severe stenosis (70% to 99%) of the internal carotid artery (ICA). Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is the standard of reference in the diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis but has a relatively high complication rate. In a diagnostic study we investigated the accuracy of noninvasive testing compared with DSA. Methods-In a prospective diagnostic study we performed duplex ultrasound (DUS), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and DSA on 350 consecutive symptomatic patients. Stenoses were measured with the observers blinded for clinical information and other test results. Separate and combined test results of DUS and MRA were compared with the reference standard DSA. Only the stenosis measurements of the arteries on the symptomatic side were included in the analyses. Results-DUS analyzed with previously defined criteria resulted in a sensitivity of 87.5% (95% CI, 82.1% to 92.9%) and a specificity of 75.7% (95% CI, 69.3% to 82.2%) in identifying severe ICA stenosis (70% to 99%). Stenosis measurements on MRA yielded a sensitivity of 92.2% (95% CI, 86.2% to 96.2%) and a specificity of 75.7% (95% CI, 68.6% to 82.5%). When we combined MRA and DUS results, agreement between these 2 modalities (84% of patients) gave a sensitivity of 96.3% (95% CI, 90.8% to 99.0%) and a specificity of 80.2% (95% CI, 73.1% to 87.3%) for identifying severe stenosis. Conclusions-MRA showed a slightly better accuracy than DUS in the diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis. To achieve the best accuracy, however, both tests should be performed subsequently.

Duplex US performed without additional imaging is cost-effective in the selection of symptomatic patients suitable for endarterectomy. Adding MR angiography increases effectiveness slightly at disproportionately high costs, whereas DSA is inferior because of associated complications.

A continuous aortic enlargement of approximately 1 mm/y at the level of the proximal endovascular anastomosis was found. Because of the practice of oversizing the endograft relative to the infrarenal aortic neck, a loss of the endovascular seal may not become apparent until several years after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is performed.

BACKGROUND Thrombus regression in heparin-treated, acute deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremity is poorly documented in the literature; different rates of thrombus resolution and recanalization are reported. METHODS AND RESULTS In a prospective follow-up study, duplex scanning was used to evaluate the thrombus regression in patients with documented acute femoropopliteal thrombosis. Eighty vein segments in 20 legs of 18 patients were subjected to repeat duplex scans at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 26 weeks after diagnosis; 49 segments showed thrombus at diagnosis. The popliteal vein showed the highest thrombus load at diagnosis, followed in descending order by the superficial femoral, profunda femoris, and common femoral vein segments (p less than 0.001). Thrombus regression was significant (p less than 0.001) in all segments and proceeded at an exponential rate that was equal in the different vein segments of the upper leg. Both thrombus resolution and recanalization appeared to be a function of the initial thrombus load and could not be related to individual vein segments. Recanalization was seen in 23 of 31 initially occluded segments and occurred within the first 6 weeks after diagnosis in 20 of 23 segments. Extension of thrombus despite anticoagulant therapy was observed in 15 vein segments and was not related to the initial thrombosis score (p = 0.1) or individual vein segments (p = 0.23). Thrombus extension in seven patients with prethrombotic conditions was not different (p = 0.9) from the other patients. CONCLUSIONS Duplex scanning is an important noninvasive tool to quantify thrombus regression in acute deep venous thrombosis in detail without unnecessary discomfort to the patient.

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Determination of the repeatability coefficient of aneurysm size measurements obtained after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair provides a good description of precision.