Brought to you by:
Dementia patients see worse outcomes after AAA repair
A cohort study using national Medicare data found patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias face significantly higher risks across different outcomes after elective abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. The data were presented at the 2026 annual meeting of the…
Blood pressure control critical following PAD revascularization, study shows
A recent study suggests vascular surgeons may be overlooking a crucial element of post-procedural care: blood pressure management. The data, presented at the 2026 annual meeting of the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery (SAVS) in Paradise Island, the Bahamas (Jan.…
Study details link between increased functional status and improved survival in prosthesis-fitted amputees
Increasing functional status in vascular patients fitted with a prosthesis after amputation was incrementally associated with improved survival, a retrospective analysis of a 10-year experience at a Dallas-based practice showed. The team at Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital-Plano…
SAVS 2024: A journey to the heart of DEI like no other
David L. Cull, MD, delivers a captivating presidential address, laying bare his own challenging journey as a vascular surgeon and the hidden lessons on diversity, equity and inclusion his life story may hold. Like nearly everyone else assembled, when Alan…
The top 10 most popular Vascular Specialist stories of January 2024
In January, the most read stories from Vascular Specialist include a U.S. Aortic Research Consortium analysis of F/BEVAR preoperative risk factors in AAAs/TAAAs; a reflection on lessons learnt one year on from BEST-CLI; Southern Vascular’s election of its first female…
Re-evaluating aortoiliac endarterectomy: Case series shows ‘acceptable durability’
The uncommonly performed aortoiliac endarterectomy—one of the open procedures on which the vascular surgical specialty was founded—provides acceptable durability in aortoiliac occlusive disease patients with smaller native vessels, especially among females, a 25-patient case series review performed at Louisiana State…
Southern Vascular elects first woman president-elect
The Southern Association for Vascular Surgery (SAVS) elected Margaret (Megan) Tracci, MD, to become its first ever woman president for the 2025–26 cycle. Tracci, a professor of surgery at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, will serve as SAVS president-elect…
Coding: Increasing complexity and lost RVUs—a drop in the ocean?
A vascular surgery team at Audie L. Murphy VA Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, uncovers “staggeringly low” numbers of correctly coded billing for three commonly performed vascular procedures, raising concerns over cases with more complex coding. Not long after…
U.S. Aortic Research Consortium maps out F/BEVAR preoperative risk factors for one-year mortality in complex AAAs, TAAAs
A series of preoperative risk factors—including currently smoking, chronic kidney disease (CKD), congestive heart failure (CHF), aneurysm size greater than 7cm, more advanced age (75 or over), Crawford extent I–III thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs), known chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),…
The utility of renal stenting in hemodialysis patients: One in five found to come off dialysis after being stented
A fifth of patients among a chronic kidney disease (CKD) cohort on hemodialysis—a rare subset pulled from a large repository of national data—were able to come off the treatment following renal artery stenting, a team of researchers from the University…