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‘Fundamental differences’ in outcomes after open AAA detected across three national registries
An investigation of differences in patient outcomes following open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) found in three national registries showed that mortality rates were lower for those contained in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI). Researchers at Brigham and Women’s…
Study identifies new genetic factors associated with AAA risk
The American Heart Association (AHA) recently announced the publication of a study identifying 14 new genes linked to an increased risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Previous studies have detected 10 locations in the human genome associated with potential AAA…
Family history risk of AAA ‘increases incrementally’ based on degree of relation
There is an incremental increase in the risk of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) among those with a family history of the disorder based on degree of relation—with a significantly higher risk found in patients with a first-degree relative diagnosed…
VA system delivers high quality services for veterans
Vascular surgery in the Veterans Health Administration has always been a robust service, developing into a mature specialty around the time of the Vietnam conflict. Over the years, many have called into question the quality of care within the Veterans…
Study finds low mortality, high complication rates after aortic endograft explantation
The explantation of aortic endografts—associated with high postoperative morbidity, particularly in patients with infected grafts—can be carried out with a low mortality rate, a new single-center study reveals. Mohammad Khasawneh, MD, a vascular surgery fellow at the Mayo Clinic in…
‘Improving disparities in healthcare is not a matter of slapping some paint on something and doing whatever is a quick fix’
Andrew Gonzalez, MD, had a heart for underserved and under- resourced communities embedded early. The son of a pediatric hematologist mother who worked at Cook County Hospital in Chicago for 31 years, his mom spent a lot of her time…
Five-year survival after EVAR for ruptured AAA ‘improving’
“The relative survival benefit of EVAR over open repair has increased over time,” conclude Rens R.B. Varkevisser, BS, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, in Boston and colleagues in the July edition of the Journal of Vascular…
French study: Third-gen Anaconda endograft indicates satisfactory five-year exclusion
The third-generation Anaconda endograft from Terumo Aortic provides “high technical success” as well as “satisfactory” five-year aneurysm exclusion and clinical success rates, a French multicenter prospective observational study has found. The investigators note that longer-term results with new generation endografts are “essential” due to a…
Patients with large AAAs see higher five-year mortality with EVAR compared to open repair
Large abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair is associated with higher adjusted five-year mortality, reintervention and rupture rates after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR)—but not after open repair, a prize-winning paper at the recently concluded SVS ONLINE digital conference concluded. Nevertheless, an…
JVS editors outline successes of past year
Submissions to the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS) publications have skyrocketed over the course of 2020, increasing 78% thus far this year. Part of the increase is due to a surge in COVID-19 manuscripts, which accounted for 12% of the…