It was the December issue 2004 of VDM when we last editorialized about the status of carotid artery stenting (CAS) in these pages. And quite a bit has happened since! Taking into account the continuing strength and impact of carotid interventional developments, it seemed appropriate and timely to revisit the “CAS story” and provide a current update:

1. FDA Approval: two CAS systems (stent/embolic protection filter) have received full approval and have been released for commercialization. Interestingly, they both came to rest within the domain of one single company (!) — the res

Introduction
Autogenous greater saphenous vein is the preferred conduit for infrainguinal vascular reconstruction, and the most commonly utilized venous conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting. Harvesting for these procedures has traditionally utilized a longitudinal continuous saphenectomy incision. Wound problems can be significant with this approach and bridging techniques evolved to lessen this complication.^1–5 Endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) was introduced in the 1990s and has now become the preferred method for greater saphenous vein harvesting in coronary arter

Introduction
The treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) has changed significantly over the last several years since Parodi’s first description of an endoluminally-placed infrarenal aortic stent graft.¹ The continued evolution and increasing prevalence of this technique has produced a dramatic change in the management of this patient population. Currently, almost 50% of all infrarenal AAA’s in the U.S. are treated with endovascular devices.² There have been multiple endoluminal devices developed and approved for the treatment of AAAs, including the AnCur

Multiple large prospective randomized trials have compared the treatment of patients that have arteriosclerotic occlusive disease or diabetes with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors versus placebo. These studies demonstrate a 25% reduction in the rate of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and revascularization procedures.^1–4 These beneficial results were identified in patients with a wide range of serum cholesterol low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels at study entry; many of these patients had lipid levels previ

Q. In what clinical cases is CryoPlasty^® Therapy a particularly effective treatment method?

A. I use CryoPlasty Therapy in a variety of complex cases, basically in any scenario where I previously used plain old balloon angioplasty. Typically, I treat either long or severely stenotic lesions – particularly in the femoral and popliteal area – that were traditionally reserved for stenting. This is a perfect scenario for CryoPlasty Therapy because personal experience and registry data have shown that the incidence of dissection with this procedure is dramatically lower