Ultrasound-Guided Fibrin Glue Injection for Treatment of Iatrogenic Femoral Pseudoaneurysms

How the elastase-induced rabbit aneurysm heals following flow diverter treatment: a histopathological study

OBJECTIVE

Fibrin deposition is integral to thrombus formation and wound healing. The role of fibrin deposition and subsequent metabolism following flow diversion for aneurysm treatment remains poorly characterized. This study aimed to evaluate the role of fibrin in early thrombus organization after flow diverter treatment.

METHODS

Thirty-five elastase-induced aneurysms were induced in New Zealand white rabbits and subjected to endoluminal flow diversion treatment. The device-bearing arteries were harvested at 1, 3, and 6 months postimplantation and processed for histopathological examination, including a modified picro-Mallory stain (Carstairs method) to visualize fibrin and platelets, immunohistochemical targeting of smooth muscle actin (SMA), and H&E staining for conventional morphological evaluation. Quantitative analysis of tissue components was carried out using the Orbit Image Analysis software. The samples were also assessed qualitatively to investigate the morphology and location of fibrin and other thrombus components within the intra-aneurysmal thrombi. Statistical analyses were conducted using R software version 4.3.1.

RESULTS

Fibrin constituted 27.9% of the thrombus tissue within the aneurysm sac for aneurysms harvested at 1 month, and this rate was significantly lower in the 3-month group (10.2%, p = 0.018). The proportion of blood cells within the sac was also notably higher in the 1-month group compared with other time points. The primary tissue filling the dome at 1 month (14/15, 93%) was an unorganized thrombus primarily composed of fibrin, platelets, and red blood cells. Conversely, aneurysms harvested at 1 month had the lowest collagen level (25.6%). However, collagen became the dominant tissue component within the aneurysm sac, accounting for 71.8% of tissue in the 3-month group (p = 0.007). There were no differences observed among the examined components between the 3-month and 6-month groups. On qualitative analysis, collagen-producing SMA-positive myofibroblasts were located near or in between fibrin molecules. Healed aneurysms exhibited myofibroblasts, collagen, and a well-organized fibrin network on the aneurysm neck. In contrast, unhealed aneurysms displayed a poorly organized fibrin network with scattered myofibroblasts at the neck area.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that fibrin plays a foundational role in the gradual occlusion of aneurysms after flow diverter treatment. Endovascular approaches that enhance fibrin accumulation could potentially improve aneurysm occlusion rates. Further research is needed to establish the precise role of fibrin in aneurysm occlusion.

Non-Surgical treatment Versus Surgery for Iatrogenic Femoral Artery Pseudoaneurysms: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives

This study compared results of non-surgical treatment (compression and ultrasound guided thrombin injection (UGTI)) and surgery to treat iatrogenic femoral artery pseudoaneurysms.

Methods

PubMed and Embase databases were searched up to October 2021. Primary outcome measure was success rate, and other outcomes examined were complication rate, reintervention rate. Two authors independently reviewed and extracted data. Data were presented as the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to appraise the quality of the body of evidence.

Results

Eight studies were included. A total of 623 patients with pseudoaneurysm undergoing treatment were included, of which 163 subjects underwent surgery, 397 subjects underwent compression, and 63 subjects underwent UGTI. The success rate was significantly lower in the non-surgery group (OR 0.24, 95% CI, 0.08–0.69, I²= 0%). The complication rate was significantly lower in the non-surgery group (OR 0.10, 95% CI, 0.03 –0.29, I²= 0%). Patients in the non-surgery group tended to have a lower, but statistically insignificant, reintervention rate (OR 0.11, 95% CI, 0.01–1.06, I²= 35%). Further, the GRADE assessment showed that these results (success rate, complication rate, and reintervention rate) were of very low quality.

Conclusions

Available evidence shows that it is reasonable to regard non-surgical treatment as the primary treatment for iatrogenic femoral artery pseudoaneurysms, and surgery as a remedy after failure of non-surgical treatment in some cases.

Minimally invasive bail-out transthoracic coiling of giant cardiac pseudoaneurysm with good long-term result

BACKGROUND

We report a case of successful minimally invasive transthoracic coiling of a left ventricle pseudoaneurysm after iatrogenic cardiac perforation with a good long-term result. The pseudoaneurysm could be repaired neither by an open surgery because of poor general state of the patient nor interventionally because of a partial sealing with an Amplatzer Septal Occluder blocking the tight neck of the aneurysm.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We performed a transthoracic coiling of the left ventricle pseudoaneurysm using a direct ultrasound-guided puncture via intercostal access below the lingula. The access puncture was performed during a single lung apnea at the end of an expiration phase with a contralateral single lung ventilation. The patient successfully recovered and has been followed-up during the 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Transthoracic coil embolization is a minimally invasive treatment option for otherwise inoperable patients with cardiac pseudoaneurysms with good long-term results.

Endovascular repair of a common femoral artery puncture after losing access using a vascular closure device

We present a case of a common femoral artery repair after losing access to the vessel in a 67-year-old woman using a Mynx-Grip vascular closure device. The hematoma over the right common femoral artery was accessed under fluoroscopic guidance. Then, the balloon of the closure device was inflated inside the artery and pulled back against the origin of the puncture site into the common femoral artery. Finally, the collagen plug was deployed and pressed against the outside of the vessel to occlude the puncture site.