Objective: To explore the safety and feasibility of endograft repair in refractory aortic dissection and dissecting aneurysm.
Methods: The clinical data of 13 refractory cases of aortic dissection and dissecting aneurysm, 11 males and 2 females, aged 52 (38-82), out of the 68 consecutive patients with aortic dissection and dissecting aneurysm who underwent endograft repair from Jan 2001 to Oct 2004, were analyzed. Nine of the 13 cases were diagnoses as with aortic dissection and dissecting aneurysm of Stanford type A, 3 of which had tears in the ascending aorta (DeBakey type I), 3 had tears in aortic arch, and 3 had tears on the distal aortic arch with ascending aorta involved; and the other four out of the 13 cases were diagnosed as Stanford type B, one with Marfan's syndrome. Eight of the 13 cases had more than 2 entries, 3 of which had suffered from shock and hemathorax due to rupture preoperatively. Follow-up ranging 2 months to 3 years was carried out after the operation.
Results: Transluminal placement of stentgratf was technically successful in all patients. Three patients with DeBakey type I dissections received stent-grafts introduced through the left common carotid or right femoral artery, of which one case died from gastrointestinal hemorrhage 1 month postoperatively. For the patients with tears in aortic arch preliminary Y type bypass from ascending aorta to left common carotid artery and left subclivian artery was performed in 2 cases, and carotid-carotid artery bypass was performed in one case, and then stent-grafts were deployed through right femoral artery. The 3 cases with tears in the distal arch and ruptured aneurysm, received stent-grafts implantation through the femoral artery emergently, and closed thoracic drainage and anti-shock treatment, one of which died from another aneurysm rupture 27 hours postoperatively. Out of the 4 cases with Stanford type B dissection with multiple tear entries, 3 underwent multiple stent-grafts repair and 1 underwent emergent abdominal-bilateral iliac arteries Y-type graft bypass due to rupture of iliac dissecting aneurysm. During the follow-up CT, MRI and color Doppler sonography showed that all 11 patients remained healthy with the former tears well closed and thrombosis in the false lumen.
Conclusion: Endograft repair for refractory aortic dissecting aneurysm is feasible and technically successful, especially for the patients with tears in the ascending aorta or aortic arch.