[Surgical treatment for distal aortic arch aneurysm using stent grafting]

To alleviate the invasiveness of surgical treatment for distal aortic aneurysm or dissection, we have been using a stented graft to replace the distal anastomotic suture of the descending aorta. We also developed a new stent graft implanting method for distal aortic aneurysm or dissection which uses cervical branch bypasses from the ascending aorta and requires no extracorporeal circulation. These new surgical treatments for distal arch aneurysm result in low surgical mortality (3.8%) and low surgical morbidity rates (stroke, 7.7%; respiratory complications, 7.7%; no renal complications). These results indicate that these new graft implanting methods using stent graft should be considered as a less-invasive surgical treatment for distal aortic aneurysm or dissection.