Treatment of acute thoracic aortic syndromes using endovascular techniques

Acute thoracic aortic syndrome (ATAS) is a novel term to define emergency aortic conditions with common clinical features and challenges. Traditional management of ATAS includes surgical replacement of the aorta and is correlated with high perioperative mortality and morbidity. We aimed to evaluate our experience and outcomes in patients presenting with ATAS, managed by endovascular techniques.

This cohort consisted of 31 consecutive patients (24 males; mean age, 57.5±13.81 years; range, 19-84 years) with acute thoracic aortic pathologies who underwent endovascular repair between January 2011 and January 2015. The study was designed as a retrospective analysis of prospectively maintained data.

Complicated acute type-B aortic dissection was the most common pathology (35.5%). All aortic stent-grafts (n=37) and dissection stents (n=9) were implanted with 100% procedural success. The overall in-hospital mortality was 9.7%. The mean follow-up duration of patients who were alive at 30 days was 25.9±11.49 months (3-53 months). So far, there have been no late deaths after 30 days.

In the high-risk setting of ATAS, endovascular procedures come forward as novel therapeutic strategies with promising results. Endovascular repair of ATAS can be considered as a first-line treatment alternative under emergency conditions with encouraging results, particularly when conventional surgical repair cannot be implemented due to prohibitive comorbidities.