Case Report: Hybrid approach as a Rescue Treatment in a patient with vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (vEDS) is a rare connective tissue disorder associated with COL3A1 gene mutation encoding type III collagen. Given the possible fatal prognosis if not treated timely, it is important to suspect and diagnose as soon as possible. Despite advances in endovascular technique, access point complications remain a serious challenge in patients with vEDS. Here, we describe a 30-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with vEDS after consecutive events of bilateral iliac vessels at an interval of 3 months: (1) spontaneous dissecting aneurysm of right iliac artery and (2) arteriovenous fistula between left internal iliac artery (IIA) and left common iliac vein. This patient was treated with iliac stent-grafts and overlapping femoral interposition graft (Dacron) in the 1st operation and access artery repair with surgical dissection after coil embolization of IIA and stent-graft insertion into left common to external iliac arteries in the 2nd operation. The patient has been treated with beta-blockers and anticoagulants for the management of vEDS and postoperative deep vein thrombosis, respectively. The stent-grafts in both iliac arteries and the access sites have been well-tolerated without any adverse effects for 14 months following the 2nd operation. In conclusion, given the vascular fragility and the potential for future events, additional vascular manipulation should be avoided unless it is in a life-threatening condition. In particular, meticulous hybrid interventions can be effective treatments.

Comprehensive genetic screening for vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome through an amplification-based next-generation sequencing system

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS) is a hereditary connective tissue disorder (HCTD) characterized by arterial dissection/aneurysm/rupture, sigmoid colon rupture, or uterine rupture. Diagnosis is confirmed by detecting heterozygous variants in COL3A1. This is the largest Asian case series and the first to apply an amplification-based next-generation sequencing through custom panels of causative genes for HCTDs, including a specific method of evaluating copy number variations. Among 429 patients with suspected HCTDs analyzed, 101 were suspected to have vEDS, and 33 of them (32.4%) were found to have COL3A1 variants. Two patients with a clinical diagnosis of Loeys-Dietz syndrome and/or familial thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection were also found to have COL3A1 variants. Twenty cases (57.1%) had missense variants leading to glycine (Gly) substitutions in the triple helical domain, one (2.9%) had a missense variant leading to non-Gly substitution in this domain, eight (22.9%) had splice site alterations, three (8.6%) had nonsense variants, two (5.7%) had in-frame deletions, and one (2.9%) had a multi-exon deletion, including two deceased patients analyzed with formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded samples. This is a clinically useful system to detect a wide spectrum of variants from various types of samples.