Intramyocardial delivery of PlGF following a large myocardial infarction enhanced border zone angiogenesis, attenuated adverse ventricular remodeling, and preserved cardiac function. This therapy may be useful as an adjunct or alternative to standard revascularization techniques in patients with ischemic heart failure.

Background: Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), defined as ischemic rest pain or tissue loss secondary to arterial insufficiency, is caused by multilevel arterial disease with frequent, severe infrageniculate disease. The rise in CLTI is in part the result of increasing worldwide prevalence of diabetes, renal insufficiency, and advanced aging of the population. The aim of this study was to compare a bypass-first with an endovascular-first revascularization strategy in patients with CLTI due to infrageniculate arterial disease.Methods: We reviewed the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program targeted lower extremity revascularization database from 2012 to 2015 to identify patients with CLTI and isolated infrageniculate arterial disease who underwent primary infrageniculate bypass or endovascular intervention. We excluded patients with a history of ipsilateral revascularization and proximal interventions. The end points were major adverse limb event (MALE), major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), amputation at 30 days, reintervention, patency, and mortality. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association of a bypass-first or an endovascular-first intervention with outcomes.Results: There were 1355 CLTI patients undergoing first-time revascularization to the infrageniculate arteries (821 endovascular-first revascularizations and 534 bypass-first revascularizations) identified. There was no significant difference in adjusted rate of 30-day MALE in the bypass-first vs endovascular-first revascularization cohort (9% vs 11.2%; odds ratio [OR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.50-1.08). However, the incidence of transtibial or proximal amputation was lower in the bypass-first cohort (4.3% vs 7.4%; OR, 0.60; CI, 0.36-0.98). Patients with bypass-first revascularization had higher wound complication rates (9.7% vs 3.7%; OR, 2.75; CI, 1.71-4.42) compared with patients in the endovascular-first cohort. Compared with the endovascular-first cohort, the incidence of 30-day MACE was significantly higher in bypass-first patients (6.9% vs 2.6%; adjusted OR, 3.88; CI, 2.18-6.88), and 30-day mortality rates were 3.23% vs 1.8% (adjusted OR, 2.77; CI, 1.26-6.11). There was no difference in 30-day untreated loss of patency, reintervention of treated arterial segment, readmissions, and reoperations between the two cohorts. In subgroup analysis after exclusion of dialysis patients, there was also no significant difference in MALE or amputation between the bypass-first and endovascular-first cohorts.Conclusions: CLTI patients with isolated infrageniculate arterial disease treated by a bypass-first approach have a significantly lower 30-day amputation. However, this benefit was not observed when dialysis patients were excluded. The bypass-first cohort had a higher incidence of MACE compared with an endovascular-first strategy. These results reaffirm the need for randomized controlled trials, such as the Bypass versus Angioplasty in Severe Ischaemia of the Leg (BASIL-2)...

To evaluate the clinical utility of the routine use of postoperative barium swallow to diagnose postoperative complications in patients undergoing open or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Design: A total of 417 consecutive patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass at our institution between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2002, were included. We performed 341 open procedures and 76 laparoscopic gastric bypasses. All patients received a limited postoperative fluoroscopic upper gastrointestinal series, except for the patients who exceeded the weight limitation of the radiologic equipment. Radiologic findings of anastomotic complications were anastomotic leak, delayed gastric emptying, gastric outlet obstruction, and gastrogastric fistula. We evaluated clinical signs and symptoms to obtain a list of criteria suggesting these complications. Patients were stratified into 2 groups: those with and those without radiographic anastomotic complications. Clinical and radiologic criteria were compared using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: We noted 42 radiologic abnormalities during a routine postoperative barium swallow evaluation. Among our 417 patients, we documented 12 leaks (2.9%), 19 cases of delayed gastric emptying (4.6%), 4 gastric outlet obstructions (1.0%), and 7 gastrogastric fistulas (1.7%). The combination of fever, tachycardia, and tachypnea was the most specific indicator of a leak, at 0.99 (95% confidence limit, 0.99, 1.01). Nausea with vomiting was the most predictive indicator of delayed gastric emptying and gastric outlet obstruction, with a specificity of 0.99 (95% confidence limit, 0.98, 0.99) and 0.97 (95% confidence limit, 0.96, 0.99), respectively. Conclusions: Postoperative complications after Rouxen-Y gastric bypass surgery are predictable based on the patient's symptoms. The use of routine postoperative fluoroscopic upper gastrointestinal series is unnecessary in asymptomatic patients.

Early revision of lower extremity arterial bypass grafts has a significantly higher risk of graft infection compared with revision >1 month after surgery. Infection will develop in approximately 25% (9/33) of prosthetic grafts that are reoperated on early. If feasible, reoperation should be delayed >1 month for prosthetic grafts needing revision. Endovascular or extra-anatomic interventions should be considered if early revision is mandated in this group.

Stent deployment can salvage thrombosed dialysis grafts. However, sustained patency occurs infrequently, with better results for upper arm grafts than for forearm grafts. Inasmuch as surgical revision of forearm grafts is usually straightforward, stenting should be reserved for use in high axillary grafts and other sites where surgical repair is difficult.