title: Six-year experience with talent stent-graft repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report a long-term experience with the Talent Endoprosthesis for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
  
  
  METHODS
  In the period between June 1997 and June 2003, 193 patients (171 men; mean age 71.0+/-7.8 years, range 52-89) with AAA were treated with a Talent Endoprosthesis. Patients were clinically and radiologically followed in the postoperative period, at 30 days, and then annually up to 72 months. In addition to computed tomographic scans, a plain abdominal radiogram was also performed annually for structural assessment of the stent-graft.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Implantation success was 99.0% (191/193). Delivery system introduction was the cause of 1 failure, and the other patient was converted to surgery for intraprocedural device migration. There were 10 (5.2%) endoleaks (3 type I, 7 type II) at 30 days; all type I and 3/7 type II endoleaks were treated (93.3% secondary clinical success). Seven (3.7%) patients died in the perioperative period, including the conversion. During follow-up, 18 (9.3%) additional deaths occurred, and 4 new endoleaks (1 type I, 2 type II, 1 type III) were encountered. In up to 6 years' follow-up, the Talent Endoprosthesis did not present signs of material fatigue, but 1 component disconnection at 42 months led to death. There was no aneurysm rupture. After an initial increase in the aortic neck (1.2+/-1.1 mm) in the postoperative period, the neck diameters continued to increase until after the third year. An average reduction of 5.6+/-4.1 mm in the aneurysm diameter at 1 year was noted; the reduction gradually reached 14.1+/-10.7 mm after 60 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Talent Endoprosthesis was an efficient alternative for managing AAAs, achieving low morbidity and mortality rates and a good long-term clinical outcome in this study. The Talent Endoprosthesis did not present signs of material fatigue over a 6-year follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. g.espinosa@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Gaudencio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Espinosa
authors.forename: Márcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Riguetti
authors.forename: Monica Ferreira
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Caramalho
authors.forename: Warley Dias Siqueira
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Mendes
authors.forename: Sergio Ricardo
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Santos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D001027:Aortography / Q000379:methods; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015607:Stents; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome