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T Loosemore

Publications and source records attributed to T Loosemore.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Vascular surgical society of great britain and ireland: review of out-of-hours vascular procedures in a tertiary vascular unit

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to review out-of-hours vascular procedures in a tertiary vascular unit. METHODS: The vascular emergencies that presented outside normal working hours (17. 00 to 08.00 hours) in a vascular unit between January and June 1998 were reviewed. Only cases considered to be life or limb threatening and requiring urgent surgical or radiological intervention were assessed. RESULTS: The Table shows that a significant number of vascular emergencies was performed out of hours in one unit. This was, in part, due to an increase in the number of tertiary referrals, which represented 57 per cent of all emergency procedures. Reasons for the tertiary referrals were: no consultant vascular surgeon on call (33 per cent), no consultant interventional radiologist on call (26 per cent), lack of intensive care beds (30 per cent) and complex procedure (11 per cent). The overall mortality rate of patients referred in this period was 15 per cent. The unit has three consultant vascular surgeons, two consultant interventional radio- logists and one vascular specialist registrar. CONCLUSION: The significant increase in out-of-hours vascular emergencies, both surgical and radiological, has placed an enormous demand on senior members of the team. In addition, it has had a significant impact on the unit's elective admissions and waiting lists, in particular those for routine general surgery. To support the growth in complex emergency referrals, senior vascular fellows in both vascular surgery and radiology have been appointed and proposals are underway to restructure local vascular services.

Journal Article↗

Sequential retroperitoneal venous hemorrhage and embolism of an angio-seal puncture closure device complicating iliac artery angioplasty.

PURPOSE: To present a case of iatrogenic puncture closure device embolization complicating surgery for retroperitoneal hemorrhage (RPH) secondary to angioplasty-induced common iliac vein trauma. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 78-year-old woman with rest pain underwent successful kissing balloon dilation of her aortoiliac bifurcation for a calcified ostial stenosis of the left common iliac artery. Hemostatic puncture closure devices (Angio-Seal) were used to secure both femoral punctures. A right-sided retroperitoneal hematoma developed, and during surgical exploration of the right groin, the Angio-Seal device was removed. The only bleeding site found was the external iliac artery puncture and it was repaired. She again became hypovolemic 18 hours later and was returned to surgery, where bilateral groin explorations and laparotomy by the vascular surgical team found a tear in the left common iliac vein. After repair, the patient was stable for 48 hours when the left leg became critically ischemic. Angiography detected a new high-grade stenosis in the left profunda femoris artery; embolectomy retrieved a footplate from the left puncture closure device. The patient died 11 days later from multiorgan failure. CONCLUSIONS: RPH should be considered early as an occult cause of hypovolemic shock developing soon after even technically straightforward iliac angioplasty. Interventionists should be aware that using the Angio-Seal device risks acute limb ischemia if footplate embolization occurs.

Aged↗

Comparison of hemodynamic cerebral ischemia and microembolic signals detected during carotid endarterectomy and carotid angioplasty.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There has been concern about carotid percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) carrying a greater risk of cerebral ischemia than carotid endarterectomy. We set out to compare cerebral hemodynamics and microembolization during carotid PTA and CEA. METHODS: We used transcranial Doppler to monitor the middle cerebral artery of 28 patients undergoing carotid PTA (n = 14) or carotid endarterectomy (CEA) with a shunt (n = 14). Each period during which the internal carotid artery was occluded by PTA balloon or by clamp when the shunt was not in place was timed. Individual periods were summated to give a total occlusion time. Ischemic time was defined as the period for which mean middle cerebral artery velocity fell to a third or less of baseline. Microembolic signals were counted during each procedure. RESULTS: CEA resulted in significantly longer individual and total occlusion time than PTA (mean individual occlusion time, seconds), CEA, 168 +/- 51; PTA, 20 +/- 7; P < .001; mean total occlusion time; CEA, 337 +/- 70; PTA, 26 +/- 10; P < .001. Ischemic time was also significantly longer during CEA than during PTA (CEA, 165 +/- 40; PTA, 17 +/- 5; P = .001). There were significantly more microembolic signals during PTA than during CEA (mean number of microembolic signals during CEA, 52 +/- 64; during PTA, 202 +/- 119; P = .001). There was no correlation between any of the parameters measured and periprocedural stroke, which occurred in one patient in each group. CONCLUSION: PTA results in less hemodynamic ischemia but more cerebral microembolism than CEA. In this small series, however, it is not possible to comment on the relations between ischemic time, microembolism, and stroke.

Aged↗

A regional study of thyroidectomy: surgical pathology suggests scope to improve quality and reduce cost.

This study of thyroid histopathological data from hospitals in the South West Thames region was undertaken to assess current practice and the scope for improvement. Over a 6 month period, 186 thyroid operations were performed on 179 patients at eight hospitals serving almost 1.7 million people. The frequency of thyroidectomy in different hospitals varied from 13 to 35 per 100,000 per year and 6.4% of the operations were second thyroidectomies. Benign multinodular goitre was the most common histological finding (34%). A benign solitary nodule was found in 36% and malignancy in 8.4% of the specimens. Correlation of histological analysis and type of operation suggested that a variety of operations were performed for the same pathological condition and that some operations were diagnostic procedures only. Overall, 63 of the 186 operations (34%) might have been avoided by a firm preoperative diagnosis. Only 67 thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAC) were performed at the eight hospitals during the study period. Only 15 (8%) of the patients who underwent thyroid operation had been investigated by FNAC. Reduction in thyroid surgery through more widespread use of FNAC could result in savings of 100,000 pounds per million population per year. Regional activity data show that more than 50 surgeons currently undertake a workload of less than 500 thyroidectomies each year. Increased subspecialisation may be required to reduce costs and raise standards.

Biopsy, Needle↗