Surgical treatment patterns and clinical outcomes of patients treated for expanding aneurysm sacs with type II endoleaks after endovascular aneurysm repair.

OBJECTIVE: Persistent type II endoleaks (T2ELs) after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) with sac growth have been associated with adverse events, including rupture. Whereas intervention in the presence of aneurysm growth has become an accepted treatment paradigm for T2ELs, the efficacy and clinical success of such interventions remain unclear. Therefore, we examined the treatment patterns and clinical outcomes of patients undergoing T2EL interventions after EVAR. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of all patients treated for expanding aneurysm sacs with T2ELs after EVAR at an academic medical center between 2006 and 2017. The primary outcomes assessed were need for repeated intervention; intervention types; and achievement of clinical success, defined as stable aneurysm sac size on computed tomography angiography after treatment. RESULTS: Fifty-six patients underwent 119 interventions, of which 107 (90%) were technically successful. The median time from EVAR to index T2EL procedure was 37 months (interquartile range, 17-56 months), and the median follow-up time from first T2EL procedure was 27 months (interquartile range, 10-51 months). The most common index procedure was transarterial lumbar embolization (64%), followed by transarterial inferior mesenteric artery (20%), transcaval (14%), and translumbar embolization (1.8%). Thirty-three (59%) patients required further procedures for persistent aneurysm sac expansion. For subsequent T2EL interventions, the most common endovascular procedure was transarterial lumbar embolization (21%), followed by transcaval (21%), translumbar (11%), and transarterial inferior mesenteric artery embolization (8.6%). Twelve patients (21%) were found to have loss of proximal or distal seal on subsequent imaging and required graft extensions to stabilize aneurysm sac size. Ten patients (18%) ultimately underwent graft explantation or sacotomy with oversewing of the endoleak source. Freedom from any endoleak-related reintervention was 57% at 1 year and 36% at 3 years. Freedom from open treatment was 93% at 1 year and 82% at 3 years. Of the 44 patients with ≥6-month follow-up, 39 (89%) achieved clinical success. However, only 11 patients (25%) achieved clinical success without any further reintervention, and 29 patients (66%) achieved clinical success without open treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Despite high technical success, endoleak recurrence after T2EL treatment is common, and multiple interventions are often needed to stabilize aneurysm sac size in patients diagnosed with T2EL-associated sac growth. Notably, one in five patients treated for T2ELs was discovered, on further evaluation, to have proximal or distal seal zone loss that necessitated repair to achieve sac stability. Thus, thorough assessment of all endoleak types should be performed in patients with T2ELs associated with sac growth before T2EL treatment to ensure appropriate care and to minimize ineffective interventions.