Purpose: To provide insight into the evolution of the saddle-shaped proximal sealing rings of the Anaconda stent-graft after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR).
Methods: Eighteen abdominal aortic aneurysm patients were consecutively enrolled in a single-center, prospective, observational cohort study (LSPEAS; Trialregister.nl identifier NTR4276). The patients were treated electively using an Anaconda stent-graft with a mean 31% oversizing (range 17-47). According to protocol, participants were to be followed for 2 years, during which 5 noncontrast electrocardiogram-gated computed tomography scans would be conducted. Three patients were eliminated within 30 days (1 withdrew, 1 died, and a third was converted before stent-graft deployment), leaving 15 patients (mean age 72.8±3.7 years; 14 men) for this analysis. Evolution in size and shape (symmetry) of both proximal infrarenal sealing rings were assessed from discharge to 24 months using dedicated postprocessing algorithms.
Results: At 24 months, the mean diameters of the first and second ring stents had increased significantly (first ring: 2.2±1.0 mm, p<0.001; second ring: 2.7±1.1 mm, p<0.001). At 6 months, the first and second rings had expanded to a mean 96.6%±2.1% and 94.8%±2.7%, respectively, of their nominal diameter, after which the rings expanded slowly; ring diameters stabilized to near nominal size (first ring, 98.3%±1.1%; second ring, 97.2%±1.4%) at 24 months irrespective of initial oversizing. No type I or III endoleaks or aneurysm-, device-, or procedure-related adverse events were noted in follow-up. The difference in the diametric distances between the peaks and valleys of the saddle-shaped rings was marked at discharge but became smaller after 24 months for both rings (first ring: median 2.0 vs 1.2 mm, p=0.191; second ring: median 2.8 vs 0.8 mm; p=0.013).
Conclusion: Irrespective of initial oversizing, the Anaconda proximal sealing rings radially expanded to near nominal size within 6 months after EVAR. Initial oval-shaped rings conformed symmetrically and became nearly circular through 24 months. These findings should be taken into account in planning and follow-up.
Keywords: abdominal aortic aneurysm; endograft deployment; endovascular aneurysm repair; expansion; fixation; nitinol ring stent; proximal sealing; ring symmetry; stent-graft.