title: Aortoscopy: a guidance system for endoluminal aortic surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this project was to evaluate the feasibility of aortoscopy for guidance of endoluminal aortic procedures and to determine whether aortoscopy has advantages over fluoroscopy in a pig model.
  
  
  METHODS
  To establish feasibility aortoscopic guidance was used for making endoluminal aortic measurements, cannulating small arteries for arteriograpy, and placing intraaortic stents and grafts in 11 pigs. To compare aortoscopy and fluoroscopy measurements were made and stents were placed by a surgeon using only aortoscopic guidance in 10 pigs and by an interventional radiologist using only fluoroscopic guidance in 10 pigs. Postmortem dissections were performed to determine measurement and device placement accuracy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the feasibility study aortoscopic measurements differed from postmortem measurements by a mean distance (+/- SD) of 1.2 +/- 0.2 mm. Stents and grafts were placed a mean of 2.3 +/- 1.9 mm distal to the most inferior renal artery with no stent covering an orifice. All attempts at cannulating spinal arteries greater than 2 mm in diameter were successful. In the comparison of aortoscopic and fluoroscopic guidance, fluoroscopic measurements differed from postmortem measurements by 2.6 +/- 2.4 mm (p = 0.223). Stents placed with aortoscopic guidance were 1.1 +/- 1.3 mm distal to the most inferior renal artery, whereas stents placed with fluoroscopic guidance were 3.4 +/- 2.5 mm distal to the most inferior renal artery (p = 0.019).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate that aortoscopy is a useful guidance system for endoluminal aortic procedures and may have advantages over fluoroscopy alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, Lexington 40536-0084, USA.
authors.forename: B B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Hyde
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Arden
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Nypaver
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kwolek
mesh_terms: D020677:Angioscopes; D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000601:surgery*; D001027:Aortography; D019723:Endoscopes; D004867:Equipment Design; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D015641:Radiography, Interventional; D015607:Stents; D013552:Swine