Endovascular Repair of Aortic Aneurysms: Treatment of Complications

Purpose:

To evaluate the use of interventional procedures for treating complications following endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms.

Methods:

Fifty-five patients (49 men; mean age 67.5 years) underwent endoluminal stent-graft repair of traumatic (n = 4) or arteriosclerotic (n = 51) aortic aneurysms in the thoracic (n = 3) or infrarenal (n = 52) aorta. Follow-up of therapeutic success included periodic clinical examination, angiography, and spiral computed tomography.

Results:

Discounting the 25 (45%) cases of postimplantation syndrome that did not require treatment, there were 22 complications observed in 20 (36%) patients over a mean 10-month follow-up (range 1 to 27). There were 2 transrenal endograft maldeployments, 1 case of twisted graft limbs, 2 access site problems (1 patient), 12 endoleaks (11 patients), 1 late graft limb thrombosis, 1 symptomatic internal iliac artery occlusion, 2 myocardial infarctions, and 1 transient psychosis. Seven (13%) patients did not undergo specific therapy, while 4 (7%) required operation (2 crossover bypass grafts, 1 suture revision, and 1 graft replacement). Among 9 (16%) patients treated with interventional techniques, 7 underwent percutaneous coil embolization for 8 endoleaks (7 successfully resolved). One late stent-graft disconnection required an additional stent-graft, and 1 of the 2 malpositioned endografts was repositioned. All patients remain alive with no increase in the diameter of the aneurysm in any patient.

Conclusions:

Technical problems resulting from the endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms often respond to interventional treatment.

First application of the ‘lasso technique’ on an endograft with suprarenal fixation stent

The authors report the use of the ‘lasso technique’ for the preservation of bilateral renal artery patency, following the intraoperative proximal migration of an aortic endograft with suprarenal bare metal fixation and anchoring barbs, due to device delivery failure.During an emergency endovascular repair of a ruptured mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm using the Zenith Flex device, the main body of the graft migrated proximally to cover both renal arteries. Attempts to pull down the graft using balloons were not effective.Finally, the ‘lasso technique’ using a guidewire over the aortic bifurcation was employed and successfully adjusted the graft below the level of the renal arteries. No procedure-related complications were noted. The endovascular repair was used as a bridging procedure and two months following the primary endovascular procedure, open surgical repair of the infected aneurysm with excision of the stent graft was performed. The patient is alive after eight months follow-up.

Impact of an Autotransfusion System during Endoluminal Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: Does it Decrease the use of Allogeneic Blood?

Endoluminal repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) is associated with decreased blood loss and transfusion requirements when compared to open AAA repair. We evaluated the use of an intraoperative autotransfusion system during endoluminal exclusion of AAAs. Fifty endoluminal AAA procedures selected at random were reviewed retrospectively. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to their estimated blood loss: Group I, 20 patients (0–500 cc); Group II, 18 patients (501–1,000 cc); Group III, 7 patients (1,001–1,500 cc); and Group IV, 5 patients (1,501–3,400 cc). The average blood loss was 327 cc for Group I, 728 cc for Group II, 1,217 for Group III, and 2,125, for Group IV. The overall blood loss was 834 cc, but 75 per cent was recovered. Hematuria was always present when greater than 1,000 cc of blood was retransfused, but renal function was not affected even with the concomitant administration of radiographic contrast. Only one patient required an autologous blood transfusion. The use of an autotransfusion device is safe, efficacious, and appears to further limit the need for homologous blood transfusion in patients undergoing endoluminal AAA repair.

Malpositioned or dislocated aortic endoprostheses: repositioning using percutaneous pull-down maneuvers

PURPOSE

To present the capabilities and potential complications of 2 percutaneous techniques for repositioning malpositioned or dislodged aortic endografts.

METHODS

Seven male patients (median age 67.9 years, range 59 to 78) required correction of misplaced or dislocated endografts in the thoracic (n = 1) or infrarenal abdominal aorta (n = 6). In 1 patient, an infrarenal bifurcated stent-graft was mistakenly deployed across a renal artery; repositioning was accomplished by tugging caudally on a guidewire placed across the endograft bifurcation and exteriorized from both femoral arteries. An inflated balloon catheter was used to reposition 3 dislocated aortic devices (1 thoracic, 2 infrarenal) and 3 iliac graft limbs that had disconnected from the main graft body 6 to 12 months after implantation.

RESULTS

Repositioning maneuvers were successful in all cases, with the devices being moved from 5 to 27 mm (median 7.8 mm). There were no procedure-related complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Nonsurgical repositioning of misplaced aortic prostheses is technically feasible in individual cases. The risk associated with the procedure, however, cannot yet be evaluated.