Initial experiences with physician-modified endo grafts

Introduction: Physician-modified endografts are mainly used in urgent cases of aortic disease as an alternative to high-risk open surgical repair or in difficult anatomical configurations. Method: We present our initial experiences with physician-modified stent graft implantation. Results: A 75-year-old male patient was admitted with a 50 mm saccular infrarenal aortic aneurysm. However, the diameter of the proximal sealing zone was significantly larger than that of the distal sealing zone, so we decided to use an iliac limb stent graft with reverse mounting resulting in an upside-down configuration to accommodate this diameter mismatch. A similar approach was used to treat a 67-year-old male patient with a 65 mm right common iliac artery aneurysm. An 81-year-old female patient was admitted with a type I endoleak associated with an aorto-uni-iliac endograft. The wide juxtarenal aortic diameter together with the short distance between the superior mesenteric artery and the proximal end of the previously deployed uni-iliac graft made the patient unsuitable for conventional endovascular repair, thus the distal 3 cm was cut from a standard thoracic stent graft and the device was reloaded. The modified graft was positioned below the superior mesenteric artery, while renal perfusion was secured by a chimney graft. Technical success was obtained in all three cases. Conclusion: The available toolkit of endovascular aortic surgery is generally suitable for the treatment of patients with typical anatomy. In elective cases of patients with unusual anatomy, or in urgent cases with complex aortic pathologies, physician-modified endovascular graft implantation can be used effectively. Orv Hetil. 2022; 163(3): 109–115.