title: Type III endoleak from a thoracic aortic stent-graft.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present an as yet unreported late complication of an Excluder thoracic endograft.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 78-year-old man underwent surgery for a ruptured type V thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm in 1996. Four years later, an aneurysm was detected in the proximal thoracic aorta and repaired with 2 Excluder endoprostheses. At 12 months, computed tomography showed an increase in the aneurysm sac diameter and a type III endoleak, which was traced to a hole in the stent-graft fabric on arteriography. No fracture of the metal components was detected in the stent-grafts. Another Excluder device was implanted within the distal endograft. Satisfactory exclusion of the leak has been maintained for 6 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The risk of type III leaks must be minimized before stent-grafting can be regarded as a routine procedure in the treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, St. Olav's Hospital, University Hospital of Trondheim, Norway. conrad.lange@rit.no
authors.forename: Conrad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Asbjørn
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ødegård
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lundbom
authors.forename: Staal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hatlinghus
authors.forename: Hans O
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Myhre
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured / Q000601:surgery*; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D015607:Stents