Endovascular treatment of ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm in patients older than 75 years

To investigate the outcomes of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for ruptured descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (rDTAA) in patients older than 75 years.

We retrospectively identified all patients treated with TEVAR for rDTAA at seven referral centres between 2002 and 2009. The cohort was stratified according to age ≤75 and >75 years, and the outcomes after TEVAR were compared between both groups.

Ninety-two patients were identified of which 73% (n = 67) were ≤75 years, and 27% (n = 25) were older than 75 years. The 30-day mortality was 32.0% in patients older than 75 years, and 13.4% in the remaining patients (p = 0.041). Patients older than 75 years suffered more frequently from postoperative stroke (24.0% vs. 1.5%, p = 0.001) and pulmonary complications (40.0% vs. 9.0%, p = 0.001). The aneurysm-related survival after 2 years was 52.1% for patients >75 years, and 83.9% for patients ≤75 years (p = 0.006).

Endovascular treatment of rDTAA in patients older than 75 years is associated with an inferior outcome compared with patients younger than 75 years. However, the mortality and morbidity rates in patients above 75 years are still acceptable. These results may indicate that endovascular treatment for patients older than 75 years with rDTAA is worthwhile.