Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a rare cause of ischemic stroke (IS) in the general population. We report a case of a young patient with NF1 in whom IS was caused by fibromuscular dysplasia. An angiographic study demonstrated occlusion in the right internal carotid artery (ICA), just after its origin, and the left ICA, just before the intracranial portion, and brain magnetic resonance imaging showed the limits of an area of brain infarction in the right frontoparietal region. Despite these concomitant neuroimaging findings, this association is rare, and it is difficult to establish the contribution to the outcome made by each of these diseases, which treatment is the best to implement, or what prognosis is.
Background: Diabetics are at 5-15 times greater risk of developing peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and few studies have compared risk factors and distribution and severity of arterial changes in diabetics compared with non-diabetics.
Objectives: To compare angiographic changes between diabetic and non-diabetic patients with advanced PAD and correlate them with risk factors.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted of consecutive patients undergoing lower limb arteriography for PAD (Rutherford 3-6) using TASC II and Bollinger et al. angiographic scores. Exclusion criteria were upper limb angiographies, unclear images, incomplete laboratory test results, and previous arterial surgeries. Statistical analyses included chi-square tests, Fisher's test for discrete data, and Student's t test for continuous data (significance level: p < 0.05).
Results: We studied 153 patients with a mean age of 67 years, 50.9% female and 58.2% diabetics. A total of 91 patients (59%) had trophic lesions (Rutherford 5 or 6) and 62 (41%) had resting pain or limiting claudication (Rutherford 3 and 4). Among diabetics, 81.7% were hypertensive, 29.4% had never smoked, and 14% had a history of acute myocardial infarction. According to the Bollinger et al. score, infra-popliteal arteries were more affected in diabetics, especially the anterior tibial artery (p = 0.005), while the superficial femoral artery was more affected in non-diabetics (p = 0.008). According to TASC II, the most severe angiographic changes in the femoral-popliteal segment occurred in non-diabetic patients (p = 0.019).
Conclusions: The most frequently affected sectors were the infra-popliteal sectors in diabetics and the femoral sector in non-diabetics.
The main type of access used for hemodialysis is the arteriovenous fistula (AVF) because it offers superior patency and lower complication rates when compared to other hemodialysis accesses. We report the case of a 69-year-old female patient with chronic kidney disease on dialysis secondary to hypertensive nephrosclerosis with a radiocephalic AVF in the left upper limb created 9 years previously. Two years previously, she had undergone a kidney transplant and was taking immunosuppressants. A crusted lesion developed on her left forearm with onset 3 months before presentation and she underwent an excisional biopsy that revealed a well-differentiated and superficially invasive squamous cell carcinoma, with lateral and deep surgical margins free from neoplasia. At 1-year follow-up, the patient showed no signs of neoplastic recurrence.
Dunbar syndrome is diagnosed by excluding other possible causes of abdominal pains. Surgical treatment comprises complete dissection of the ligament and the surrounding nerve ganglion. This report describes the case of a previously healthy 45-year-old male patient who presented with epigastric abdominal pain irradiating to the back and weakness. Initially, abdominal computed tomography was ordered, showing arteriopathy of the celiac trunk and mesenteric artery with stenosis. The patient underwent surgical treatment because of the refractory pain, but findings were nonspecific. It was necessary to continue workup with serial angiotomography to follow the case. After around 6 months, thickening of the arcuate ligament was found, with compression of the proximal third of the celiac trunk and 80% stenosis. The patient therefore underwent laparoscopy to relieve celiac trunk compression, with satisfactory postoperative recovery.