As a result, we think that the evaluation of inflammation before creating AVF in HD patients is very important for increasing the success of AVF.

BackgroundAccording to some reports, left hemidiaphragmatic paralysis due to phrenic nerve injury may occur following cardiac surgery. The purpose of this study was to document the effects on phrenic nerve injury of whole body hypothermia, use of ice-slush around the heart and mammary artery harvesting.MethodsElectrophysiology of phrenic nerves was studied bilaterally in 78 subjects before and three weeks after cardiac or peripheral vascular surgery. In 49 patients, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and heart valve replacement with moderate hypothermic (mean 28°C) cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were performed. In the other 29, CABG with beating heart was performed, or, in several cases, peripheral vascular surgery with normothermia.ResultsIn all patients, measurements of bilateral phrenic nerve function were within normal limits before surgery. Three weeks after surgery, left phrenic nerve function was absent in five patients in the CPB and hypothermia group (3 in CABG and 2 in valve replacement). No phrenic nerve dysfunction was observed after surgery in the CABG with beating heart (no CPB) or the peripheral vascular groups. Except in the five patients with left phrenic nerve paralysis, mean phrenic nerve conduction latency time (ms) and amplitude (mV) did not differ statistically before and after surgery in either group (p > 0.05).ConclusionsOur results indicate that CPB with hypothermia and local ice-slush application around the heart play a role in phrenic nerve injury following cardiac surgery. Furthermore, phrenic nerve injury during cardiac surgery occurred in 10.2 % of our patients (CABG with CPB plus valve surgery).

Temporary AV fistula and free flap may provide stable wound coverage and high rate of limb salvage in treatment of diabetic foot ulcers with large tissue loss.

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) manifests cutaneous vascular nevus, superficial venous varicosities, and hypertrophy of the affected limb. KTS may be associated with other developmental anomalies such as polydactyly, syndactyly, and macrocephaly. We present a case with KTS associated with polydactyly.

There are no reports in the literature of routine preoperative and postoperative electrophysiological studies in large patient groups to evaluate brachial plexus injury during open heart surgery. It is known that heart surgery sometimes causes partial brachial plexus injury, especially in the lower trunk. However, these peripheral nerve problems are usually not considered clinically important and are not investigated. Patients undergoing open heart surgery must be closely followed up for peripheral nerve injury during the postoperative period.

Objective: Temporal arteritis is systemic vasculitis of medium and large sized vessels. The lowest incidence rates were reported in Turkey, Japan and Israel. We aimed to investigate the results of patients with biopsy-proven temporal arteritis and those classified according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria from a low-incidence region for temporal arteritis. The results of our study are noteworthy, since there is limited data on pathologic diagnosis of temporal arteritis in Turkey. Method:We studied the medical records, laboratory findings such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels, biopsy results, and postoperative complications of all the patients operated for temporal artery biopsy at our clinic. We used the computerized laboratory registry that keeps all records of 42 consecutive temporal artery biopsy results from January 2011 to December 2016. Results: The mean age was 66±12.5 years. The most common manifestations on admission were temporal headache, optic neuritis and jaw claudication, respectively. Temporal artery biopsy results confirmed tempoal arteritis in eight out of 42 (19%) patients. There was no statistically significant difference between biopsy-positive and biopsy-negative groups in terms of sex, age, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and biopsy length. Conclusion: We were not able to find a correlation between the analysis of biopsy results and clinical evaluation of patients with temporal arteritis. We suggest that diagnosis of temporal arteritis depends on clinical suspicion. Laboratory examination results may not be helpful in accurate diagnosis of tempoal arteritis.

Objectives:The aim of this study is to report our experiences about the surgical repair of traumatic vascular injuries.Patients and methods: Between January 2011 and July 2019, 164 patients (151 males, 13 females; mean age 35.6±13.8 years; range, 6 to 77 years) who underwent emergency surgery due to vascular injuries were included in this retrospective study. Operative techniques, causes for injury, and patient outcomes were analyzed. Data were collected from the patient records.Results: Repair for major arterial injury was performed in 149 patients and 59 of them had a major venous injury. Of 149 patients, 18 had an only major arterial injury. Seven patients had an only major venous injury. Exploration and ligation of bleeding of the small arteries and veins were performed in eight patients. Primary repair with end-to-end anastomosis in 85 arterial and 20 venous injuries was performed. Autologous vein graft interpositioning was performed in 36 arterial and 16 venous injuries. Lateral wall repair was performed in nine arterial and eight venous injuries. Ligation was performed in 25 arterial and 20 venous injuries. An 8-mm biological graft interpositioning was performed to both popliteal artery and popliteal vein in one patient with a gunshot wound. Externally supported polytetrafluoroethylene synthetic graft interposition was performed in five arterial injuries. A 6-mm Dacron graft was placed in one patient. Thoracic endovascular aorta repair was performed in one patient with a descending thoracic aortic rupture. Conclusion:Peripheral vascular injuries should be kept in mind in trauma patients and detected vascular injuries should be repaired as soon as possible after a detailed vascular examination.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of liquid or foam sclerotherapy of varicose veins using venous clinical severity scores and possible complications. METHODS: A total of 318 patients (268 females, 50 males) who were treated with liquid or foam sclerotherapy between January 2012 and December 2012 were included in this study. RESULTS: Skin necrosis was observed in only 6 patients (1. 8%), thrombophlebitis in 10 patients (3. 1%), and hyperpigmentation in 18 patients (5. 6%) in this study group. The mean venous clinical severity score was calculated as: pain score, 1. 23 ± 0.88; varicose vein score,1.85 ± 0. 8; edema score, 0.64 ± 0.77). Pain and edema decreased at the control examination, 1 month after completion of sclerotherapy sessions. Varicose veins completely disappeared after sclerotherapy. While the decrease in edema in the foam sclerotherapy group was significantly less (P<0.001), the decline in pain showed an increasing trend (P=0.069). While skin necrosis did not develop after foam sclerotherapy, rates of pigmentation and local thrombophlebitis were similar (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we observed that both sclerotherapy methods are effective with a low rate of complications, alleviating the complaints of patients with small varicose veins, and providing considerable improvement in venous clinical severity scores.