The surgical management of type IA endoleak after thoracic endovascular aortic repair

Our goal was to investigate the surgical strategy for type Ia endoleak after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) by reporting our experiences.

From November 2012 to September 2019, a total of 23 patients received surgical management for type Ia endoleak after TEVAR.

The operations included total arch replacement with the frozen elephant trunk technique in 15 patients, direct closure of the endoleak in 2 patients, hybrid aortic arch repair in 4 patients, arch debranching with TEVAR in 1 patient and left common carotid artery to left subclavian artery bypass with TEVAR in 1 patient. Among 21 patients with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), the mean CPB and aortic cross-clamp times were 146.7 ± 42.2 and 81.0 ± 43.3 min, respectively. The selective cerebral perfusion time was 18.8 ± 8.2 min in 17 patients with hypothermic circulatory arrest. The in-hospital mortality was 8.7% (2/23). Type Ia endoleak was sealed successfully after surgery in 95.5% (21/22) of patients. The follow-up data were available for all 21 survivors. The median follow-up period was 18 months (range 1-84 months). During the follow-up period, a total of 8 patients died or had aortic events, including 5 deaths and 6 aortic events.

Different surgical strategies could be selected to treat patients with type Ia endoleak after TEVAR, with acceptable early and late outcomes.