Friday - Track 1

Presenter: Faysal Amin, University of Minnesota - ESS Introduction: Vascular diseases such as aneurysms, dissections, stenosis affects over 230 million people worldwide annually. A typical treatment approach includes non-invasive endovascular procedures, which require a thorough understanding of vessel anatomy and dimensions to appropriately target affected areas. Computed Tomography (CT) is considered the gold standard imaging modality for both preoperative planning and intraoperative guidance in endovascular procedures. Preclinical evaluation of novel endovascular devices is essential to assess their safety and efficacy, and the sheep model is widely regarded as a suitable large-animal model for such studies. However, there is limited literature detailing [...]

Presenter: Caroline Baldo, Boston Scientific Introduction: In small ruminants undergoing general anesthesia (>1.5 hours), ruminoreticulum dilation can occur secondary to gas and/or fluid accumulation. Oro-ruminal intubation is controversial due to the potential risks outweighing the perceived benefits. The tube normally sits in the fluid layer draining ruminal content, disrupting flora and predisposing to pathologies such as ruminal acidosis. Trauma is another risk, however, equally important is the forced opening of the lower esophageal sphincter which disrupts the pressure barrier, predisposing to ruminal content drainage. Copious amounts of content in the oral cavity are often noticed increasing the risk of aspiration pneumonia. Herein, [...]

Presenter: Nubia Silva, University of Minnesota Background: To model and characterize time-dependent vascular dysfunction induced by sepsis in an ex vivo porcine vein system. Introduction: Sepsis is clinical syndrome driven by an overwhelming host response to infection, often progressing to circulatory failure and organ dysfunction. The vascular response to sepsis is characterized by vasoplegia—a state where blood vessels lose their ability to constrict, resulting in persistently low blood pressure resistant to usual therapies. Understanding how infection transitions to vasoplegia, particularly through vascular nitric oxide (NO) signaling, is essential for developing new therapies. We modeled these vascular changes ex vivo using porcine saphenous [...]

Presenter: Beata Kis, Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland Introduction: Aortic dissections, occurring at an estimated rate of 3 cases per 100,000 individuals per year, are medical emergencies associated with a high mortality. Thoracic aortic aneurysms leading to dissection and/or rupture are characteristic, but not exclusive, to known genetic disorders. While medical therapies may retard the enlargement, prophylactic surgical repair is mandated when the aortic diameter reaches a specific criterion. The newest, less invasive ‘exostenting’ offers a personalised external aortic root support (PEARS). We aimed to assess the possibility of prophylactic exostenting of the rats’ thoracic aorta, the time needed for Exostent incorporation, [...]