Endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic diseases: combined experience from the EUROSTAR and United Kingdom Thoracic Endograft registries.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to assess the initial and 1-year outcome of endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysms and dissections collated in the European Collaborators on Stent Graft Techniques for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection Repair (EUROSTAR) and the United Kingdom Thoracic Endograft registries.

METHODS: Four hundred forty-three patients underwent endovascular repair of thoracic aortic disease between September 1997 and August 2003 (EUROSTAR, 340 patients; UK, 103 patients). Patients represented 4 major disease groups: degenerative aneurysm (n = 249), aortic dissection (n = 131), false anastomotic aneurysm (n = 13), and traumatic aortic injury (n = 50).

RESULTS: Mean age in the entire study group was 63 years. Fifty-two percent of patients were deemed at high risk for open surgery because of major comorbidity. Sixty percent of patients underwent an elective procedure, and 35% required emergency treatment. Conventional indications for treatment of aortic dissection, including aortic expansion, continuous pain, rupture, or symptoms of branch occlusion constituted the basis for endograft placement in 57% of patients, whereas in 43% of patients aortic dissections were asymptomatic. Primary technical success was obtained in 87% of patients with degenerative aneurysm and in 89% with aortic dissection. Paraplegia was a postoperative complication in 4.0% of patients with degenerative aneurysm and 0.8% of patients with aortic dissection (not significant). Thirty-day mortality in the entire study group was 9.3%, with mortality rates after elective procedures of 5.3% for degenerative aneurysms and 6.5% for aortic dissection. Mortality for degenerative aneurysm after emergency repair was higher (28%; P <.0001) then after elective procedures. For aortic dissection the emergency repair rate was 12% (not significant compared with elective repair of aortic dissection, and P = .025 compared with emergency repair of degenerative aneurysm). One-year follow-up was complete in 195 patients. The outcome at 1 year was more favorable for aortic dissection than for degenerative aneurysm with regard to aortic expansion (0% vs 15%; P = .001) and late survival (90% vs 80%; P = .048). In the groups with false anastomotic aneurysm and traumatic aortic injury, 30-day mortality rates were 8% and 6%, respectively.

CONCLUSION: This multicenter experience demonstrates acceptable rates for operative mortality and paraplegia after endovascular repair of thoracic aortic disease. Outcome after 30 days and 1 year was more favorable for aortic dissection than for degenerative aneurysm. However, the durability of this technique is currently unknown, and continued use of registries should provide data from long-term follow-up.