Late failure after endovascular repair of descending thoracic aneurysms

Although endovascular repair of descending thoracic aneurysm has been increasingly utilized as a minimally invasive alternative to open repair, the availability of late results remains quite limited, and what exists does not yet completely reflect the rapid evolution of devices, refinement in delivery systems and maturation of both institutional and general learning curves. Durability of endografts in the thoracic aorta continues to be defined as more long-term data emerge from the major device regulatory trials. This review describes the currently available published long-term results and describes some of the anecdotally reported modes of late failure associated with the technique.