Ronnie Mintzer

The importance of hemorrhage in the relationship between gross morphologic characteristics and cerebral symptoms in 376 carotid artery plaques.

In a prospective study 376 carotid artery plaques (275 symptomatic, 101 asymptomatic) were obtained from endarterectomies (184 unilateral and 96 bilateral) in 280 patients. The gross morphologic features of each plaque were noted at surgery and, together with the patients clinical history, stored in computer memory. These data were analyzed in order to investigate the relationship of gross morphologic plaque characteristics with both the presence of cerebral symptoms and the degree of stenosis associated with the plaque. Ulceration was the most frequently observed of the five major gross plaque morphologic characteristics (46.0% of all plaques), but only intramural hemorrhage (30.6% of all plaques) was significantly more common in all symptomatic compared with all asymptomatic plaques (p < 0.02). Hemorrhage was also the only gross characteristic significantly more common in focal symptomatic plaques when compared with either asymptomatic plaques (p < 0.05) or nonfocal symptomatic plaques (p < 0.01). When all the plaques were divided into three broad degrees of stenosis groups (0–39%, 40–69%, 70–99%) on the basis of angiographic data, only hemorrhage showed a significant correlation in incidence with increased degree of plaque stenosis, both when all plaques were considered (p < 0.001) and when only symptomatic plaques were examined (p < 0.001). The results indicate that intramural hemorrhage is the only carotid plaque gross morphologic characteristic significantly more frequent in symptomatic compared with asymptomatic plaques and the only characteristic significantly correlated with increased plaque size. These findings indicate that factors other than plaque ulceration and intraluminal thrombus play an important role in carotid plaque related cerebral symptoms. The data also raise questions concerning the unequivocal value of anticoagulant therapy in carotid artery disease, especially in highly stenotic lesions.

The value of silent myocardial ischemia monitoring in the prediction of perioperative myocardial infarction in patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery

Real-time electrocardiographic monitoring for silent myocardial ischemia was performed on 200 patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery to try to better define those at high risk of perioperative myocardial infarction. The patients were divided into those undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm or lower extremity revascularization procedures (group I, n = 120) and those undergoing carotid artery endarterectomy (group II, n = 80). Silent ischemia was detected during the preoperative, intraoperative, or post-operative periods in 60.8% of group I and 67.5% of group II patients. Six group I and three group II patients suffered an acute perioperative myocardial infarction with two cardiac deaths. In both groups I and II a variety of parameters based on monitoring of silent myocardial ischemia were compared between the subgroups of patients who had myocardial infarction and those who did not. The results show that in both groups there was a significantly (p less than or equal to 0.05) greater total duration of perioperative ischemic time, total number of perioperative ischemic episodes, and total duration of perioperative ischemic time as a percent of total monitoring time in patients who suffered a perioperative myocardial infarction compared to those who did not. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of preoperative characteristics in all 200 patients showed the occurrence of preoperative silent myocardial ischemia and angina at rest to be the only significant predictors of perioperative myocardial infarction. Thus perioperative monitoring for silent myocardial ischemia might noninvasively identify those patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery who are at increased risk for perioperative myocardial infarction, permitting implementation of timely preventive measures in selected patients.

Beta blockade to decrease silent myocardial ischemia during peripheral vascular surgery

Abstract The incidence and duration of intraoperative silent myocardial ischemia have been shown to be significantly correlated with the incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction in patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery. To assess the effectiveness of intraoperative beta blockade in limiting such silent myocardial ischemia, a group of 48 patients was treated with oral metoprolol immediately prior to peripheral vascular surgery. The total duration of intraoperative silent myocardial ischemia, the percentage of intraoperative time silent myocardial ischemia was present, the number of intraoperative episodes of silent myocardial ischemia, and the intraoperative heart rate in the treated patients were compared with those in 152 similar but untreated peripheral vascular surgery patients. The patients treated with oral metoprolol had significantly less intraoperative silent ischemia with respect to relative duration and frequency of episodes, a significantly lower intraoperative heart rate, and less intraoperative silent myocardial ischemia in terms of total absolute duration. These results suggest that beta-adrenergic activation may play a major role in the pathogenesis of silent myocardial ischemia during peripheral vascular surgery.

Long-term follow-up of patients undergoing reoperation for recurrent carotid artery disease

PURPOSE We examined the perioperative course and long-term fate of individuals who required reoperation for recurrent carotid artery disease. METHODS The records of 2289 patients undergoing 2961 consecutive operations during a 22-year period were reviewed. Forty-two patients (1.8%) who underwent reoperations were studied. Forty-seven redo carotid artery reconstructions were performed on these 42 patients for neurologic symptoms or asymptomatic high-grade stenosis. Long-term follow-up was obtained on 41 of 42 patients (mean 54 months; range 9 to 202 months). RESULTS The forty-seven reoperations consisted of endarterectomy with patch angioplasty (n = 36), saphenous vein or polytetrafluoroethylene interposition graft (n = 7), or simply vein or polytetrafluoroethylene patch angioplasty (n = 4). There were no perioperative strokes or deaths. Three patients had perioperative transient ischemic attacks and two had cranial nerve injuries. The incidence of late failure after secondary surgery was 19.5% (8/41 patients). These failures consisted of one stroke, three transient ischemic attacks, and four asymptomatic occlusions. One tertiary carotid artery reconstruction was performed for a restenosis at the site of the secondary reconstruction. CONCLUSION The factors responsible for the high incidence of late failures after secondary carotid artery reconstruction are unclear. Reoperation for recurrent carotid artery disease appears less durable than primary carotid endarterectomy. Close postoperative surveillance is recommended after carotid artery reoperation.

Silent myocardial ischemia monitoring predicts late as well as perioperative cardiac events in patients undergoing vascular surgery

In a previous study we have shown that perioperative monitoring for silent myocardial ischemia can noninvasively identify those patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery who are at significantly increased risk for perioperative myocardial infarction. In the present study a group of 385 patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery was studied long-term as well as short-term to determine whether perioperative monitoring for silent ischemia can identify those patients who are at significantly increased risk of late cardiac death or late cardiac complications as well as those patients at increased risk of perioperative myocardial infarction. All patients were monitored before, during, and after operation and were divided into two groups on the basis of results of monitoring: patients whose total duration of silent ischemia as a percentage of the total duration of perioperative monitoring was 1% or greater (group I, n = 120) and those for whom this value was less than 1% (group II, n = 265). Among patients in group I 13.3% (16 of 120) suffered a perioperative myocardial infarction in contrast to only 1.1% (3 of 265) patients in group II (p less than 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis of preoperative and perioperative characteristics showed that the presence of a total perioperative percent time ischemic 1% or greater and age were the only significant predictors of perioperative myocardial infarction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The influence of human immunodeficiency virus infection and intravenous drug abuse on complications of hemodialysis access surgery

To examine the influence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on complications in dialysis access surgery, a review was performed on patients undergoing hemodialysis at two major metropolitan medical centers over a 30-month period. One hundred eight patients underwent a total of 169 graft procedures; mean follow-up was 14 1/2 months. There were 18 (17%) patients who were HIV-positive who had no symptoms, 11 (10%) patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and 79 (73%) patients who were HIV-negative. Twenty-three percent (25/108) of patients had a history of intravenous drug abuse (IVDA), most of whom also had either AIDS or asymptomatic HIV infection. Dialysis procedures included 44 autogenous reconstructions (26%), 117 polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts (69%), and 8 (5%) procedures of unknown type. Arteriovenous fistula or graft thrombosis was a frequent complication. The overall 12-month graft patency rate was 41%, and patients with HIV infection or a history of IVDA did not have a significantly increased risk of thrombosis. Multivariate analysis showed that the use of PTFE as opposed to autogenous reconstruction was the only significant risk factor found for occlusion within the first 12 months after operation (p < 0.01). Twenty-five graft infections occurred, all in PTFE grafts. The PTFE graft infection rate was 43% in patients with AIDS, 36% in patients who were HIV-positive and who had no symptoms, and 15% in patients who were HIV-negative (p < 0.05). Patients with a history of IVDA had a 41% PTFE graft infection rate versus a 13% infection rate in patients who did not have a history of IVDA (p < 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Contralateral neurologic symptoms after carotid surgery: A nine-year follow-up

A study was undertaken to observe the long-term clinical behavior of the contralateral, asymptomatic carotid artery of patients after unilateral carotid endarterectomy (UCE). A consecutive series of 182 patients undergoing UCE were followed up for 1 to 9 years (mean 4.2 years). The operated artery was symptomatic in 169 cases (92.8%) whereas in 13 (7.2%) it was asymptomatic but stenotic. Follow-up included an accounting of all hemispheric or focal neurologic events in the territory of the nonoperated artery, as well as associated cardiovascular risk factors. A total of 11 patients (6%) suffered stroke (CVA) and six (3.3%) had transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) in the distribution of the nonoperated carotid artery. By life-table analysis, major neurologic symptoms developed in 11.6% of patients within 5 years. Hypertension was an important prognostic factor: significantly more hypertensive patients had late contralateral neurologic symptoms (p less than 0.05, chi square). The cumulative incidence of CVA and TIA in these patients was 17.3% by life-table analysis at 5 years vs. 9.1% for normotensive patients. Since only a small proportion of the patients studied had a high-grade stenosis of the nonoperated artery, no conclusions could be made regarding its prognostic importance. The relevant published studies are discussed and compared with this report. Guidelines for the management and follow-up of the patient after UCE are discussed.

Immediate and long-term results of carotid endarterectomy for asymptomatic high-grade stenosis

We examined the operative risks and long-term results of carotid endarterectomy for asymptomatic patients in terms of stroke, death, and recurrent stenosis. The results of a nonrandomized study with a follow-up of 1 to 104 months (mean 46 months) is reported. A tertiary referral center served as the setting for this report. One hundred consecutive patients with severe but asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis out of a total of 514 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy were entered into this study. The severity of carotid disease was determined by duplex scanning and confirmed arteriographically. No patients were lost to follow-up after surgery. Eighty-nine operations (77%) were done under cervical block anesthesia and all arteries were closed with saphenous vein patches. Life-table analysis showed that the stroke-free rate at 5 years was 96.3% with an ipsilateral stroke-free rate of 98.2%. The 5-year overall survival rate was 78.2% with a stroke-free survival rate of 75%. Carotid endarterectomy can be performed safely for asymptomatic patients believed to be at risk for stroke. The potential for early death due to myocardial disease, late stroke, and recurrent stenosis do not justify advising patients against undergoing prophylactic carotid endarterectomy for asymptomatic high-grade stenosis.

Beta Blockade to Decrease Silent Myocardial Ischemia During Peripheral Vascular Surgery

The incidence and duration of intraoperative silent myocardial ischemia have been shown to be significantly correlated with the incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction in patients undergoing peripheral vascular surgery. To assess the effectiveness of intraoperative beta blockade in limiting such silent myocardial ischemia, a group of 48 patients was treated with oral metoprolol immediately prior to peripheral vascular surgery. The total duration of intraoperative silent myocardial ischemia, the percentage of intraoperative time silent myocardial ischemia was present, the number of intraoperative episodes of silent myocardial ischemia, and the intraoperative heart rate in the treated patients were compared with those in 152 similar but untreated peripheral vascular surgery patients. The patients treated with oral metoprolol had significantly less intraoperative silent ischemia with respect to relative duration and frequency of episodes, a significantly lower intraoperative heart rate, and less intraoperative silent myocardial ischemia in terms of total absolute duration. These results suggest that beta-adrenergic activation may play a major role in the pathogenesis of silent myocardial ischemia during peripheral vascular surgery.