title: Favorable early outcomes for patients with extended indications for thoracic endografting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endografts originally designed and approved for the treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms have rapidly been adopted for nonapproved use in the treatment of disorders of the thoracic aorta, including aortic transection, dissection, pseudoaneurysms, and thoracoabdominal aneurysms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the early outcomes of patients treated with thoracic endografts for nonapproved indications at our institution.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of patients undergoing thoracic endografting at our institution from August 2005 until March 2008 were reviewed. Patients undergoing endografting for uncomplicated thoracic aortic aneurysms were excluded. The outcomes of patients with extended indications for thoracic endografting were studied.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, endografting was performed in 31 patients for nonapproved aortic conditions. Patients underwent endografting for a spectrum of indications, including aortic transection (n = 12), complications of type B aortic dissection including rupture (n = 9), thoracoabdominal aneurysm with visceral debranching (n = 6), aortic arch debranching (n = 2), and pseudoaneurysm associated with prior coarctation repair (n = 2). Early outcomes were favorable. All patients had successful endograft repair of their anatomic lesion. There were no endoleaks. There was no hospital mortality. Average hospitalization was 15 days for patients with aortic transection and 9 days for all other patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thoracic endografts are versatile devices that with appropriate expertise can be used effectively to treat a spectrum of disorders of the thoracic aorta, including acute emergencies. Early outcomes of patients with extended indications for thoracic endografting compare favorably to published series of patients treated with open procedures. Further study is required to assess the long-term efficacy of these devices.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
authors.forename: Kirk A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Caddell
authors.forename: Howard K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Kenneth J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kolbeck
authors.forename: Matthew S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Slater
authors.forename: Timothy K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Liem
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guyton
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moneta
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kaufman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000601:surgery*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult