Endovascular stent grafting for the treatment of blunt thoracic aortic injury
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026
A New Murine Model of Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair
Published on: July 7, 2013
T Fujikawa1, T Yukioka, S Ishimaru
1Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Tokyo Medical University, 6-7-1 Nishinjinku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan 160-0023. fujikawa@tokyo-med.ac.jp
Objective:
Recent advances of endovascular stent-grafting (ESG) provide a new therapeutic option with minimum surgical damage for blunt aortic injury (BAI) during its acute phase. To clarify the effectiveness of ESG for BAI, a prospective clinical study at a university hospital was conducted.
Methods:
All patients with blunt thoracic injury underwent thoracic contrast-enhanced computed tomographic (CT) scan. Six patients age 48.8 +/- 19.8 years, with Injury Severity Scores of 35.8 +/- 8.1, and with BAI were treated according to our protocol. The stent-graft covered by woven Dacron was placed at the injury site. Endoleakage was then checked by aortography and CT scan was again performed once a day on days 7 through 14.
Results:
All patients had injury of the aortic isthmus. ESG placement was performed within 8 hours after injury except in one (48 hours). The operating time was 159.5 +/- 21.1 minutes and bleeding volume was 105 +/- 26.6 mL. No endoleakage was found. Repeat CT scan revealed disappearance of hematoma. All patients except one had an event-free clinical course. One patient died because of rupture of the ascending aorta on day 6; however, autopsy revealed evidence of the healing process at the injury site sealed by ESG.
Conclusion:
An ESG is a valid therapeutic option with minimal surgical invasion for patients with acute-phase aortic injury.
