title: Endovascular stent graft repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms in high-risk patients: a single center experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endovascular stent graft (EVG) repair can be a safe alternative to open surgical repair to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in high-risk patients. We report our results with EVG repair in such high-risk patients at our institution.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We wanted to show that EVG repair can be performed successfully and with a low complication rate in patients with serious comorbidities.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients prospectively studied underwent EVG repair of AAA from February 2000 to July 2002.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 60 patients studied, 45 (75%) were high-risk surgical candidates because of associated comorbidities; their aneurysms ranged from 4.5 to 10 cm (mean: 5.7 +/- 1.2 cm). Fifty-nine of 60 patients (98.3%) were treated successfully. Two (3.3%) who underwent surgical intervention for site-related complications died from postoperative complications. Hospital stay was <48 hours in 46 (77%) patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our preliminary results show that EVG is safe, feasible, and yields excellent technical success even in patients at high risk for complications. Teamwork between interventional cardiologists and vascular surgeons is advised.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, St Luke's Medical Center, Univesity of Wisconsin Medical School-Milwaukee Clinical Campus, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: Suhail
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Allaqaband
authors.forename: Mohammad E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mortada
authors.forename: Ramagopal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tumuluri
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Tanvir K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Bajwa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D016896:Treatment Outcome