Systematic review of endovascular repair of ascending aortic dissection

Endovascular repair has been used in selected ascending aortic dissection patients judged unfit for direct open surgery. However, the selective criteria and the results of endovascular repair of ascending aortic dissection, and the potential risk factors of adverse events were still obscure. The aim of this study was to summarize the published data linking endovascular therapy for ascending aortic dissection.

Studies reporting endovascular repair of ascending aortic dissections were identified by searching PubMed and Embase databases in accordance with preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines, and by reviewing the reference lists of retrieved articles. All available data were pooled and the subgroup analyses were conducted.

A total of nine studies were identified according to the inclusion criteria. The overall technical success was 91.7%. The mean period of follow-up was 34.7 months. The early mortality within 30 days and late mortality during the follow-up were 10.3% and 19.0%, respectively. The incidence of endoleak was 14.3%. In the subgroup analysis, we found that female and oversizing >10% were risk factors of adverse events.

The pooled results suggested that endovascular repair of ascending aortic dissection was feasible, promising, and inspiring. The selection of endovascular therapy should be cautious based on preoperative evaluation. Application of different strategies for different ascending lesions should be considered. The dedicated endograft for ascending aorta is desperately needed before broader application of endovascular repair for ascending aortic pathologies can be achieved.