Infected aneurysms are uncommon. The aorta, peripheral arteries, cerebral arteries, and visceral arteries are involved in descending order of frequency. Staphylococcus and Streptococcus species are the most common causative pathogens. Early clinical diagnosis of infected aneurysms is challenging owing to their protean manifestations. Clinically apparent infected aneurysms are often at an advanced stage of development or are associated with complications, such as rupture. Nontreatment or delayed treatment of infected aneurysms often has a poor outcome, with high morbidity and mortality from fulminant sepsis or hemorrhage. Current state-of-the-art imaging modalities, such as multidetector computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, have replaced conventional angiography as minimally invasive techniques for detection of infected aneurysms in clinically suspected cases, as well as characterization of infected aneurysms and vascular mapping for treatment planning in confirmed cases. Doppler ultrasonography allows noninvasive assessment for infected aneurysms in the peripheral arteries. Imaging features of infected aneurysms include a lobulated vascular mass, an indistinct irregular arterial wall, perianeurysmal edema, and a perianeurysmal soft-tissue mass. Perianeurysmal gas, aneurysmal thrombosis, aneurysmal wall calcification, and disrupted arterial calcification at the site of the infected aneurysm are uncommon findings. Imaging-guided endovascular stent-graft repair and embolotherapy can be performed in select cases instead of open surgery. Familiarity with the imaging appearances of infected aneurysms should alert the radiologist to the diagnosis and permit timely treatment, which may include endovascular techniques.

SummaryBackground-Metformin might reduce insulin requirement and improve glycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes, but whether it has cardiovascular benefits is unknown. We aimed to investigate whether metformin treatment (added to titrated insulin therapy) reduced atherosclerosis, as measured by progression of common carotid artery intima-media thickness (cIMT), in adults with type 1 diabetes at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

Children with chronic illness often require prolonged or repeated venous access. They remain at high risk for venous catheter–related complications (high‐risk patients), which largely derive from elective decisions during catheter insertion and continuing care. These complications result in progressive loss of the venous capital (patent and compliant venous pathways) necessary for delivery of life‐preserving therapies. A nonstandardized, episodic, isolated approach to venous care in these high‐need, high‐cost patients is too often the norm, imposing a disproportionate burden on affected persons and escalating costs. This state‐of‐the‐art review identifies known failure points in the current systems of venous care, details the elements of an individualized plan of care, and emphasizes a patient‐centered, multidisciplinary, collaborative, and evidence‐based approach to care in these vulnerable populations. These guidelines are intended to enable every practitioner in every practice to deliver better care and better outcomes to these patients through awareness of critical issues, anticipatory attention to meaningful components of care, and appropriate consultation or referral when necessary.*

Increasing numbers of children are surviving into adulthood following surgery to correct or palliate congenital heart disease. This surgery can occasionally result in long-standing elevated right heart pressures and chronic hepatic venous congestion leading to cardiac cirrhosis. We report the first paediatric case of hepatocellular carcinoma in the setting of cardiac cirrhosis. A 13-year-old girl developed inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma and was treated with transarterial embolization with lipiodol and doxorubicin eluting microbeads. Promoting awareness of this association, even in younger patients, will hopefully result in better surveillance and screening of hepatic complications in survivors of complex cardiac surgery.