title: [Endovascular treatment of aortic isthmus ruptures: medium term results].
abstract: Despite an improvement in the surgical management of aortic isthmus ruptures, the observed morbidity and mortality rates remain high. The use of aortic endoprostheses could improve these results, but there are not yet many medium term studies on ruptures of the isthmus. Between January 2000 and December 2005, we treated endovascularly 9 patients (7 males and 2 females) presenting with a rupture of the aortic isthmus, acute in 8 of them and chronic in one case. The average age was 46 years. All of the patients presented with significant traumatic co-morbidity. Ten endoprostheses were used in these 9 patients, and no immediate conversion was necessary. Complete excision of the lesions lasted on average 112 +/- 27 min and there were no per-operative deaths. Hospital mortality was 22% (2 patients: multiple organ failure on day 3, and a CVA on day 10). The mean length of hospital stay was 16 +/- 20 days. The mean follow up of the 7 surviving patients was 38 +/- 17 months. No complications relating to the endoprostheses were reported. In all of the patients an almost complete disappearance of lesions on CT scan was noted: by 6 months for the acute ruptures and at 1 year for the chronic rupture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the medium term results of endovascular treatment of isthmus ruptures are good.
authors.affiliation: CHU Reims, hôpital Robert-Debré, service de chirurgie thoracique et cardiovasculaire, Reims, France. srubin@chu-reims.fr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bayle
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pages
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonnet
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poncet
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baehrel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors