title: Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: a community hospital's experience.
abstract: Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) has become the first-line approach for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Outcomes outside of tertiary care settings remain unknown. The purpose of this study is to report the midterm outcomes of EVAR in a community hospital. A retrospective review of 75 elective, consecutive EVARs performed at a single nonacademic community hospital was performed. There were no conversions to open repair during or after endovascular repair. The mean follow-up was 18 months. There were no postoperative ruptures or aneurysm-related deaths. At 24 months, freedom from aneurysm-related death was 100%, freedom from secondary interventions was 91%, and freedom from endoleak was 69%. EVAR in the community setting is a safe and durable procedure, even in a medically high-risk population. Comparable outcomes can be achieved to tertiary care centers, in carefully selected patients with favorable anatomy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Madden
authors.forename: Donald T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Baril
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wertz
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: DeMarsico
authors.forename: Robert Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: Rabih A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Chaer
mesh_terms: D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome