Endovascular debranching of the aortic arch during thoracic endograft repair.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of complex thoracic aortic pathology increasingly requires coverage of one or more aortic arch vessels. Endovascular debranching with a chimney technique can reduce or eliminate the need for surgical bypass. In this study, we evaluate our initial experience with planned endovascular debranching of the aortic arch. METHODS: During a 13-month period, nine patients were treated with endovascular debranching during thoracic endograft placement. Balloon expandable (n = 7) or self-expanding stents (n = 2) were deployed (innominate, n = 2; left common carotid, n = 2; left subclavian, n = 5) along with either TAG (W. L. Gore, Flagstaff, Ariz; n = 8) or Talent (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minn; n = 1) endografts. Four patients required six surgical bypasses to additional arch vessels (right to left common carotid artery, n = 2; left common carotid to subclavian artery, n = 4). RESULTS: Indications for thoracic endograft placement were aortic transection (n = 4), aortic aneurysm (n = 2), aortotracheal fistula (n = 1), contained aortic aneurysm rupture (n = 1), and acute aortic dissection (n = 1). Endografts were deployed into zones 0 (n = 2), 1 (n = 2), and 2 (n = 5). Technical success of endovascular debranching was attained in eight of nine patients, with maintenance of branch perfusion and absence of endoleak. Perioperative morbidity included one myocardial infarction and one stroke that resulted in the patient's death. During subsequent follow-up (range, 2-25 months), there were no instances of endoleak secondary to chimney stents. All debranched vessels maintained primary patency. CONCLUSION: Endovascular debranching permits planned extension of the thoracic endograft over arch vessels while further minimizing the need for open reconstruction. Short-term results indicate technical feasibility of this approach. Long-term outcomes remain undefined.

Paradigm shifts in the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm: trends in 721 patients between 1996 and 2008.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated longitudinal trends in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) management after later-generation endografts became available. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed non-suprarenal AAA repairs between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2008, performed at a single institution. Patients were stratified by endovascular AAA repair (EVAR) or open repair and the presence or absence of rupture. Thirty-day mortality rates were compared with the Fisher exact test. RESULTS: During a 13-year period, 721 patients underwent AAA repair, comprising 410 (56.9%) with EVAR and 311 (43.1%) with open repair. A bimodal distribution of EVAR usage was observed, with initial escalation in the 1990s to 70%. A nadir of EVAR occurred in the early 2000s (40%), correlating with more conservative EVAR use after the limitations of first-generation endografts were understood. Between 2005 and 2008, average EVAR use increased to 84%. The overall 30-day mortality rate for the entire cohort, including ruptured AAA, was 3.8%: 2.0% (8 of 410) for EVAR and 6.1% (19 of 311) for open repair (P < .05). Ruptured AAA had a mortality rate of 0% (0 of 8) for EVAR vs 31% (9 of 29) for open (P = .16). Non-ruptured AAA mortality was 2.0% (8 of 402) for EVAR vs 3.6% (10 of 282) for open (P = .23). EVAR and open repair both had reductions in mortality in the latter half of the series, combining to provide a significant decrease in overall mortality to 1.8% for patients treated from 2003 to 2008 compared with 4.9% for 1996 to 2002 (P < .05). Open AAA repair became more complex during the study period. The average rate for juxtarenal open AAA repair was 17.7% (range, 6.5%-34.6%) between 1996 and 2002 compared with 55.6% (range, 29.6%-100%) between 2003 and 2008 (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: AAA treatment has undergone a profound and sustained paradigm shift, now averaging 84% of repairs performed with EVAR between 2005 and 2008. Overall mortality from AAA repair, including ruptures, was reduced 64% (from 4.9% to 1.8%) during the 13-year study period. Although EVAR and open repair both had improved mortality in the latter half of the series, the primary driver in reduced mortality for AAA repair has been the shift to EVAR.