title: Spinal cord ischemia after endovascular repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms with fenestrated and branched stent grafts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to report the incidence and associated risk factors of perioperative spinal cord ischemia (SCI) after endovascular repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs) with fenestrated and branched stent grafts.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included consecutive patients with TAAA treated with fenestrated and branched stent grafts within the period January 2004 to December 2014. Suprarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms treated with fenestrated and branched grafts, even if including all four visceral vessels, were excluded. Patients who died within 30 days after the procedure were excluded from the analysis for SCI. All data were collected prospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 218 patients (167 men; mean age, 68.8 ± 7.5 years) were treated. Thirty-day mortality was 17 patients (7.8%). TAAA distribution among the 201 surviving patients was as follows: type I, n = 17 (8.5%); type II, n = 55 (27.4%); type III, n = 63 (31.3%); type IV, n = 54 (26.9%); and type V, n = 12 (5.9%). In the surviving patients, 21 (10.4%) developed perioperative SCI. At 30 days postoperatively, 13 (6.5%) of those patients had transient lower limb weakness, 5 patients (2.5%) had persistent lower limb weakness requiring assistance to stand or to walk, and 3 patients (1.5%) had persistent paraplegia. Five of the 21 patients awoke from anesthesia with a neurologic deficit. The remaining 16 patients had a later postoperative onset of SCI, with the majority of them (14 of 16) within 72 hours after the operation. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression identified operation time >300 minutes (odds ratio [OR], 7.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-21.1; P < .001), peripheral arterial disease (OR, 6.6; 95% CI, 2-21.9; P = .002), and baseline renal insufficiency (glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min; OR, 4.1; 95% CI, 1.1-16.1; P = .04) as independent risk factors for SCI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our experience, most SCI events after endovascular TAAA repair are transient, with persistent paraplegia being rare. Patients with prolonged procedure duration, peripheral arterial disease, and baseline renal insufficiency appear to be at higher risk for development of SCI after endovascular TAAA repair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany. Electronic address: kthanassos@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Katsargyris
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Kyriakos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oikonomou
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kouvelos
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Renner
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ritter
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Eric L G
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Verhoeven
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017545:Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods; D057510:Endovascular Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007511:Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000098:blood supply*