Risk Factors for Esophageal Collateral Veins in Cirrhosis with and without Previous Endoscopic Esophageal Variceal Therapy

Background. Portosystemic collateral vessels are a sign of portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis. Esophageal collateral veins (ECVs) are one major type of portosystemic collateral vessels, which increase the recurrence of esophageal varices and bleeding after variceal eradication. However, the risk factors for ECVs were still unclear. Methods. We retrospectively screened cirrhotic patients who had contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) images to evaluate ECVs and upper gastrointestinal endoscopic reports to evaluate gastroesophageal varices at our department. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the independent risk factors for ECVs. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. Subgroup analyses were performed in patients with and without previous endoscopic variceal therapy which primarily included endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) and endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS). Results. Overall, 243 patients were included, in whom the prevalence of ECVs was 53.9%. The independent risk factors for ECVs were hepatitis C virus infection (OR = 0.250, p = 0.026), previous EVL (OR = 1.929, p = 0.044), platelet (OR = 0.993, p = 0.008), and esophageal varices needing treatment (EVNTs) (OR = 2.422, p = 0.006). The prevalence of ECVs was 60.8% (73/120) in patients undergoing EVL, 50% (10/20) in those undergoing EIS, and 47.5% (48/101) in those without previous endoscopic variceal therapy. The independent risk factors for ECVs were the use of nonselective beta-blockers (OR = 0.294, p = 0.042) and EVNTs (OR = 3.714, p = 0.006) in subgroup analyses of patients with and without previous endoscopic variceal therapy, respectively. Conclusions. The presence of ECVs should be closely associated with the severity of portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis. Risk of ECVs might be increased by previous EVL.

Radiological Correlates of pT3a Kidney Cancer: Importance of Irregular Tumor Sinus Border

Purpose: Preoperative assessment of T3a renal-cell-carcinoma (RCC) in absence of main renal vein involvement or lymph node enlargement is challenging but has potential implications for counseling and prognosis. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of 1129 cT1-T3aN0M0 RCC patients managed with partial/radical nephrectomy (PN/RN) in our institution (2012-2014) was performed. Exclusion criteria included radiological evidence of main renal vein involvement or substantial lymphadenopathy. Eleven radiological findings suggestive of aggressive tumor biology or invasive phenotype based on prior literature were assessed for correlation with pT3a status. These included perinephric-findings (stranding, enhancing-nodule, collateral-vessels, or irregular-perinephric-tumor-contour), findings within the sinus (stranding, collecting-system invasion, branch-vein enlargement, or irregular-tumor-sinus-border [ITSB]), and tumor-necrosis, infiltrative-features, and tumor-size. Radiological assessment was blinded to final pathology. Sensitivity/specificity and logistic-regression analyses assessed the performance of each imaging-finding for detecting pT3a tumors. Results: Median tumor-size was 4.0cm and R.E.N.A.L. was 8. Median follow-up was 53 months (IQR:28-64). pT3a tumors were found in 281 patients (25%) and strongly correlated with local and systemic recurrence (p<0.02). ITSB was found in 350 patients (31%) and was the strongest predictor of pT3a status. Sensitivity/specificity/PPV/NPV/OR/C-Index for ITSB were 75%/84%/61%/91%/15.8(11.4-21.9)/0.80, for correlation with pT3a, respectively. The best predictive model included ITSB(yes/no) and tumor-size as a continuous variable (C-index=0.84). Addition of other imaging-findings did not improve the model (C-index=0.84). ITSB was the strongest contributor in all multivariable-models and also strongly correlated with recurrence-free-survival. Inter/intra-observer correlations for assessment of ITSB were 0.89/0.98, respectively. Conclusions: Our data suggest that ITSB and tumor-size associate with pT3a RCC, which could impact patient counseling.

Moyamoya disease

Background: Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare pathology caused by a progressive unilateral or bilateral stenosis of the terminal portion of the internal carotid artery, leading to the development of collateral vessels. Case Presentation: We report a rare case of a 46-year-old male, born in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, with sudden muscular strength deficit and right hemiparesis, associated with headache and emesis. A priori, the initial diagnosis was arteriovenous malformation (AVM) after performing a series of complementary tests during the patient’s follow-up, also considering the clinical picture similar to that of Moyamoya disease (MMD). The conclusive diagnosis of MMD was finally established when the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a network of tortuous and dilated collateral vessels, with a hazy “smoke cloud” aspect with stenosis of the M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery (MCA), branch of the artery internal carotid artery (ICA). Conclusion: The recommended treatment was surgical revascularization with extracranial-intracranial bypass, with a favorable prognosis to the patient.

Detection of Collaterals from Cone-Beam CT Images in Stroke

Collateral vessels play an important role in the restoration of blood flow to the ischemic tissues of stroke patients, and the quality of collateral flow has major impact on reducing treatment delay and increasing the success rate of reperfusion. Due to high spatial resolution and rapid scan time, advance imaging using the cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is gaining more attention over the conventional angiography in acute stroke diagnosis. Detecting collateral vessels from CBCT images is a challenging task due to the presence of noises and artifacts, small-size and non-uniform structure of vessels. This paper presents a technique to objectively identify collateral vessels from non-collateral vessels. In our technique, several filters are used on the CBCT images of stroke patients to remove noises and artifacts, then multiscale top-hat transformation method is implemented on the pre-processed images to further enhance the vessels. Next, we applied three types of feature extraction methods which are gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), moment invariant, and shape to explore which feature is best to classify the collateral vessels. These features are then used by the support vector machine (SVM), random forest, decision tree, and K-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifiers to classify vessels. Finally, the performance of these classifiers is evaluated in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, precision, recall, F-Measure, and area under the receiver operating characteristics curve. Our results show that all classifiers achieve promising classification accuracy above 90% and able to detect the collateral and non-collateral vessels from images.

Insights Into Endovascular Management of Superior Vena Cava Obstructions

Superior vena cava obstruction results from any limitation of blood flow through the superior vena cava. Circulation to the heart may persist through various collateral vessels whose development depends on the level of obstruction. Depending on the level and degree of occlusive disease, the severity of clinical symptoms may vary considerably, up to lethal. Etiologies have changed dramatically in recent years, mainly due to the increasing use of intravascular devices. However, guidelines for treatment are lacking, and various options are available. Endovascular therapies developed considerably in recent years, may offer a rapid improvement in symptoms and proved to be safe. However, knowledge and selection of appropriate techniques are essential to venous angioplasty, involving specific tools to guarantee satisfying outcomes. This review aims to discuss the particular venous anatomy of the upper body, the physiopathology of superior vena cava obstruction, and specificities of endovascular treatment compared with other management options.

Giant bilateral axillary artery aneurysms with left complete obstructive thrombus in intravenous immunoglobulin-sensitive Kawasaki disease: a case report

Background Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis that predominantly affects medium-sized arteries. In addition to well-known coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs), peripheral systemic artery aneurysms (SAAs) have also been sporadically reported. In the literatures, SAAs occurred mainly in untreated, intravenous immunoglobin (IVIG)-resistant, or severe refractory KD, and thrombotic events in SAAs were rarely reported. Case presentation A 10-month-old boy with a history of KD was referred to our hospital for suspected pseudoaneurysm of the axillary arteries. Four months prior to presentation, he had persistent fever, conjunctival congestion, and rash. On the 10th day of fever echocardiogram showed biliteral CAAs. He was then diagnosed with KD and given IVIG 2 g/kg and aspirin at a local hospital. His fever and symptoms soon subsided and he was discharged with low dose aspirin and dipyridamole. One month prior to presentation, his parents incidentally palpated swellings in his bilateral axillae. On admission, physical examination revealed a pulsatile swelling in his right axilla and a non-pulsatile swelling in the left with impalpable left brachial and radial pulses, cooler and less active left upper limb than the right one. While the pulses of other three limbs were normal. Ultrasound examination revealed giant bilateral axillary artery aneurysms (AAAs) with massive thrombus in the left. Angiography confirmed giant bilateral AAAs with left AAAs completely occluded and fine collateral vessels connecting to the distal brachial artery, in addition to giant bilateral multiple CAAs without stenoses. The patient was given intravenous prostaglandin for 10 days to allow for formation of collateral circulation, as well as aspirin, low molecular weight heparin (which was switched to warfarin before discharge) and metoprolol. At discharge, the temperature and movement of his left upper limb improved significantly. On follow-up at 7 months, his left upper limb further improved and was similar to the right with no occurrence of cardiovascular events. The images of CAAs and AAAs on echocardiogram and computerized tomography remained the same. Conclusions This case highlights the importance of evaluating peripheral SAAs in KD patients with CAAs, even if their course of treatment appears smooth. For both large non-aortic SAAs and CAAs in KD patients, antithrombotic therapy is of utmost importance.

A Rare Cause of Hemoptysis in West Syndrome—Isolated Aortopulmonary Collaterals in Structurally Normal Heart

Major aortopulmonary collateral arteries (MAPCAs) are abnormal systemic to pulmonary collateral vessels originating from the persistent segmental arteries. The common conditions concomitant with MAPCA are congenital heart diseases with reduced pulmonary blood flow. Isolated MAPCAs represent occurrence of collaterals in the absence of underlying heart disease, which commonly present as heart failure, recurrent respiratory tract infection, and pulmonary artery hypertension. Here, we describe a case of West syndrome presenting with hemoptysis due to isolated MAPCAs and its causal relation and management.

A 10 Years Old Child Presented with Hemiparesis and Moyamoya Disease – A Case Report

Introduction: In Moyamoya disease there is long standing, continuous developing occlusion of the arteries of Circle of Willis which leads to development of typical collateral vessels seen on cerebral angiogram. Moyamoya Disease was diagnosed on performing the MR Angiography. Child with Moyamoya disease presents with recurrent episodes of sudden hemiplegia that might occur at alternative sides. The disease is progressive and dynamic in children. Acute management of this disease is symptomatic. MR Angiography clinches the diagnosis and neurosurgical intervention with physiotherapy which may be required as a part of definitive management. Objectives: Our case brings forth the significance of considering Moyamoya Disease to be classic etiology for acute ischemic strokes in children. Case Report: We report a rare case of 10 year old female child who was admitted at our medical center for the complaints of transient ischemic attack & left side hemiparesis with left facial palsy. In respect to our case, surgical intervention was not considered due to having satisfactory response on the commencing medical management. Conclusion: Our case brings forth the importance of considering MMD to be classic etiology for acute ischemic strokes in children .MMD is main diagnosis when we evaluate the children with cerebrovascular events. To asses this non operative MR angiography is investigation of choice. For favourable outcome in children with Moyamoya disease the key is early diagnosis and management.