[Present status of stent-graft aortic aneurysm repair in Japan]

An industrially produced stent graft for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair was first approved in Japan in July 2006, followed by a device for thoracic aortic aneurysm repair the next year. After seven years, most descending thoracic aortic aneurysms and about half of abdominal aortic aneurysms are treated with four types of device each. In 2012, the number of patients who underwent endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), of facilities performing those procedures per 1 million population, and of EVAR and TEVAR patients per facility was 7,600 and 3,700, 3.8 and 3.0, and 18.4 and 12.3, respectively. The incidence of type I endoleak and rate of hospital death was 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively, in 3,124 cases of EVAR performed during the initial 2.5 years. A 6.6% rate of type I endoleak and 2.7% hospital death rate were observed during the first 2 years of TEVAR. The satisfactory curative effects of EVAR and TEVAR are confirmed by these follow-up data.