• Nathalie David, Nicolas Roux, Françoise Douvrin, Erick Clavier, Jean Paul Bessou, and Didier Plissonnier.
• Department of Vascular Surgery, Rouen University Hospital, Rouen, France.
• Ann Vasc Surg. 2012 Aug 1; 26 (6): 839-44.

BackgroundDuring aortic surgery, the long-term patency of reimplanted intercostal arteries is unknown, limiting the relevance to preserve spinal cord vascularization.MethodsBetween January 2001 and January 2007, 40 patients were operated for either thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) or thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA). Twenty cases of aneurysms limited to the proximal descending thoracic aorta were treated using endovascular repair, without preoperative spinal cord artery identification. Twenty patients--seven with extensive TAA, seven with type I TAAA, two with type II TAAA, and four with type III TAAA--underwent open surgery. Before open surgery, preoperative angiography was performed to identify spinal cord vascularization; in one case, the angiography failed to identify it. The segmental artery destined to the spinal cord artery was identified as originating from outside the aneurysm in 7 patients and inside the aneurysm in 12 patients: T6 R (1), T8 L (2), T9 L (3), T10 L (3), T11 L (3), L1 L (1). During the surgery, normothermic and femorofemoral bypass was used for visceral protection. All segmental arteries identified as critical before surgery were reattached in the graft. Twenty-four months later, computed tomography scans were performed to assess the patency of the reattached segmental arteries.ResultsThree patients died, including one with paraplegia (T9 L). No other cases of paraplegia were reported. Computed tomography scans were performed in 10 patients. Segmental artery reattachment was patent in nine patients.ConclusionOur experience indicates the long-term patency of reimplanted segmental artery, without any convincing evidence of its utility in preventing neurologic events during TAA and TAAA direct repair.Copyright © 2012 Annals of Vascular Surgery Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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