title: Management of blunt traumatic thoracic aorta injuries with endovascular stent-grafts in a tertiary hospital in an urban Asian city.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thoracic aortic injury from blunt trauma is a life-threatening condition with significant mortality and morbidity with open surgical repair. Endovascular means of treatment is emerging as an attractive and less invasive option. We report our experience with endovascular stent-graft repair for blunt traumatic thoracic aorta injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 2003 and August 2009, six patients underwent endovascular repair of blunt traumatic thoracic aorta injury. Data from the medical records of these patients were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients had deceleration injury resulting in thoracic aorta pseudoaneurysm at the aortic isthmus just distal to the left subclavian artery. Four patients were motorcyclists who had been involved in road-traffic accidents and two had fallen from a height. The mean Injury Severity Score was 33.8 (range, 21-43). All procedures were performed within 48 hours of admission and technical success was 100%. Five patients (83.3%) had the left subclavian artery intentionally covered by the stent-graft to achieve adequate proximal landing zone. None of them had any left upper limb ischemic complications or cerebrovascular events after the procedure. One patient had preservation of the left subclavian artery because intraoperative vertebral angiogram showed a hypoplastic right vertebral artery. No other procedural complications, paraplegia, or deaths were reported. Mean follow-up was 18.8 months (range, 1.5-42 months).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our early experience of endovascular stent-grafting for blunt traumatic thoracic aorta injury suggests that this emerging technique is safe for treatment of such pathology in our inherently Asian population. Left subclavian artery may be sacrificed if adequate proximal landing zone is required for the stent-graft; and when vertebral angiogram was performed which did not show a dominant left vertebral artery.
authors: Department of General Surgery, Vascular Surgery Service, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. glenntan@doctors.org.uk
authors: Glenn Wei
authors: GW
authors: Leong Tan
authors: Chong Han
authors: CH
authors: Pek
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Wong
authors: Sundeep
authors: S
authors: Punamiya
authors: Ming Terk
authors: MT
authors: Chiu
authors: Vijayan
authors: V
authors: Appasamy
authors: Kok Hoong
authors: KH
authors: Chia
authors: Chee Wei
authors: CW
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017541:Aneurysm, False / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / 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; D005260:Female; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012042:Registries; D012846:Singapore; D015607:Stents; D013348:Subclavian Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D057772:Vascular System Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult