Early clinical results and studies of aortic aneurysm morphology after endovascular repair.
Endovascular repair is a feasible treatment alternative with favorable short-term results compared with standard operations. Nonrandomized, multicenter trials already in progress should help to define the role of endovascular grafting in the treatment of patients who are otherwise candidates for conventional repair. Long-term follow-up studies will test the durability of the procedure, including clinical repercussions of late endoleaks and migration related to slow alterations in aortic morphology, such as neck dilation and aortic shortening. More research is needed into long-term aortic morphologic changes; further insights into these changes may allow subclinical prediction of clinical events and permit intervention before a catastrophic failure. How great an advantage this procedure has over observation in high-risk patients for whom no open surgical alternative is available is also unknown because the overall mortality of this patient cohort may mitigate any treatment benefits. In today's cost-conscious world, the viability of this new technology may be dependent on balancing the short-term benefits of this procedure against its associated requirements for monitoring and subsequent reinterventions.
Department of Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, USA. j-matsumura@nwu.edu
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D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D001027:Aortography; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome