Drug coated balloon angioplasty for renal artery stenosis due to Takayasu arteritis: Report of five cases

BACKGROUND Takayasu arteritis is a rare but intractable chronic disease in young female patients. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the involved renal arteries has been reported;however, few studies have reported the use of drug coated balloon angioplasty in the treatment of Takayasu arteritis. We aimed to demonstrate five young female patients who presented with a history of hypertension due to Takayasu arteritis. CASE SUMMARY From April 2017 to October 2018, five female patients were diagnosed with hypertension due to Takayasu arteritis by computed tomography angiography (CTA) and laboratory tests. Four patients had a complaint of headache with or without dizziness, and one patient showed no symptom. There was no significant family or past history of hypertension or kidney disease, and the physical examinations were almost normal on admission. We performed a treatment by drug coated balloon angioplasty. Blood pressure decreased dramatically in all patients after balloon angioplasty, and the patency of treated renal artery was demonstrated with CTA over 5 months after the angioplasty procedure. CONCLUSION Drug coated balloon angioplasty is safe and effective for renal artery stenosis due to Takayasu arteritis. A prospective study with a larger sample size is necessary to further demonstrate the effectiveness of the treatment.

Lower gastrointestinal bleeding:Role of 64-row computed tomographic angiography in diagnosis and therapeutic planning

AIM: To determine the value of computed tomographic angiography(CTA) for diagnosis and therapeutic planning in lower gastrointestinal(GI) bleeding.METHODS: Sixty-three consecutive patients with acute lower GI bleeding underwent CTA before endovascular or surgical treatment. CTA was used to determine whether the lower GI bleeding was suitable for endovascular treatment, surgical resection, or conservative treatment in each patient. Treatment planning with CTA was compared with actual treatment decisions or endovascular or surgical treatment that had been carried out in each patient based on CTA findings.RESULTS: 64-row CTA detected active extravasation of contrast material in 57 patients and six patients had no demonstrable active bleeding, resulting in an accuracy of 90.5% in the detection of acute GI bleeding(57 of 63). In three of the six patients with no demonstrable active bleeding, active lower GI bleeding recurred within one week after CTA, and angiography revealed acute bleeding. The overall location-based accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value(PPV) and negative predictive value(NPV) for the detection of GI bleeding by 64-row CTA were 98.8%(249 of 252), 95.0%(57 of 60), 100%(192 of 192), 100%(57 of 57), and 98.5%(192 of 195), respectively. Treatment planning was correctly established on the basis of 64-row CTA with an accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 98.4%(248 of 252), 93.3%(56 of 60), 100%(192 of 192), 100%(56 of 56), and 97.5%(192 of 196), respectively, in a location-based evaluation. CONCLUSION: 64-row CTA is safe and effective in making decisions regarding treatment, without performing digital subtraction angiography or surgery, in the majority of patients with lower GI bleeding.

Fluoroscopic removal of fractured,retained,embedded Z self-expanding metal stent using a guidewire lasso technique:A case report

BACKGROUND There are few reports of a fractured esophageal self-expanding metallic stent(SEMS)and the lasso retrieval technique,forming a guidewire loop by directing the guidewire back up the external stent for retrieval.CASE SUMMARY A 74-year-old man complained of dysphagia approximately 6 mo after radical resection of esophageal cancer.Benign anastomotic stenosis was diagnosed,and a 20 mm in diameter and 60 mm in length esophageal covered SEMS was inserted after repeated balloon dilatation.About 13.5 mo after stenting,dysphagia recurred and esophagography showed severe stenosis above the proximal stent and stent removal was performed.One-third of the stent was removed and the fractured stent remained in the proximal esophagus.A suction tube was introduced through the guidewire and then the guidewire was grabbed,acting like a“lasso”on tightening.The remaining fractured stent was successfully removed by slowly pulling back the guidewire,with no fragments of stent wires retained.CONCLUSION The guidewire lasso technique is a simple,effective method of removing esophageal SEMS in rare cases of stent fracture.