title: Endovascular repair of traumatic aortic transection.
abstract: The present study reports a single center experience and mid-term results of endovascular repair of acute aortic traumatic transection on an emergency basis, instead of open surgical management. From January 2005 to December 2008, 13 cases of traumatic aortic transection with serious comorbidities, which underwent repair with thoracic stent grafts at our institution, were reviewed. The mean patient age was 32.5+/-7.8 years. During the follow-up period of 25.5+/-12.8 months, 12 patients were alive and one patient died of associated injuries. There were no intraoperative deaths, no incidence of paraplegia and no procedure-related mortality. The blood loses during the procedure were minimal. The thoracic aortic grafts were larger than the thoracic aorta by 12.4+/-5.7%. Five cases required complete or partial coverage of the left subclavian artery. There were two cases of graft collapse, which were successfully treated by endovascular reintervention. Our results suggest that this approach is safe, effective and can be performed with low rates of morbidity and mortality, especially in respect of patients with multiple injuries. Although initial results are encouraging, close long-term follow-up and technical improvements of the stent grafts are required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, George Papanikolaou General Hospital, Exohi, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece. e_halvatzoulis@yahoo.gr
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chalvatzoulis
authors.forename: Angelos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Megalopoulos
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trellopoulos
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ananiadou
authors.forename: Pavlos
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papoulidis
authors.forename: Ioanna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kemanetzi
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Madesis
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Drossos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D001027:Aortography / Q000379:methods; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D015607:Stents; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult