Aortic Slimgraft: ex vivo and in vivo study

In this article we describe a method for assembling an endovascular graft within the aorta with a graft and then a stent introduced sequentially over a guidewire as separate components. In the ex vivo study, an endovascular graft that was 25 mm in diameter was introduced through a 9F introducer. In the in vivo study, smaller endovascular grafts were placed in the aortas of four healthy pigs and five pigs with aortic aneurysms. Our data suggest that this very low profile system may have significant clinical implications because it converts aortic repair into a percutaneous procedure.