Although aneurysmal disease is rare in Behçet disease, it can complicate the clinical picture and cause life-threatening complications. We believe that the establishment of remission before the surgical intervention decreases the incidence of postoperative complications. Because recurrence at the site of anastomosis is possible, prolonged monitoring is required.

Total pericardiorrhaphy with pericardial cavity intervention can be acceptable and favourable in terms of its outcomes, including reducing incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, pericardial effusion and length of hospitalization.

Carotid endarterectomy performed under local or general anaesthesia is associated with low morbidity and mortality rates. Local anaesthesia enables the surgeon to assess the neurological status during the procedure. It is also associated with decreased shunt usage, decreased operative time and, in high risk patients, lower intensive care unit requirement and hospital stay.

Visceral artery aneurysms are rare and potentially life-threatening vascular disorders. The number of cases diagnosed every year increases because of advanced radiologic diagnostic methods and screening programs. Careful consideration and early management of these malformations can be life saving.

Atherosclerotic plaques constitute the primary cause of heart attack and stroke. However, we still lack a clear identification of the plaques. Here, we evaluate the feasibility of scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (TRFS) in atherosclerotic plaque characterization. We perform dual-modality microscopic imaging of the human carotid atherosclerotic plaques. We first show that the acoustic impedance values are statistically higher in calcified regions compared with the collagen-rich areas. We then use CdTe/CdS quantum dots for imaging the atherosclerotic plaques by TRFS and show that fluorescence lifetime values of the quantum dots in collagen-rich areas are notably different from the ones in calcified areas. In summary, both modalities are successful in differentiating the calcified regions from the collagen-rich areas within the plaques indicating that these techniques are confirmatory and may be combined to characterize atherosclerotic plaques in the future.