A 67-year-old woman was referred to the cardiothoracic outpatient clinic with a long-standing asymptomatic type 2 thoracoabdominal aneurysm. Her CT aorta showed extensive disease in the distal arch with no safe landing zone for total endovascular aneurysm repair (TEVAR). An acute bend preceding the descending aorta also made using a conventional elephant trunk challenging. A multi-disciplinary team decision was made to perform an aortic arch replacement using a frozen elephant trunk at zone 0. Utilizing a zone 0 approach in an elective case can result in quicker organ perfusion and successful TEVAR if necessary.
Keywords: aortic surgery; cardiac surgery; frozen elephant trunk; thoraco-abdominal aneurysm; zone 0.
Published by Oxford University Press and JSCR Publishing Ltd. © The Author(s) 2023.