Journal of vascular surgery
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Risk factors for postoperative cognitive decline after noncardiac surgery are multifactorial and poorly understood. Evidence suggests that perioperative microembolic damage to the brain on movement of wires and catheters during endovascular aortic procedures may play an important role. Endovascular aortic aneurysm repair requires invasive manipulation of wires and cannulas within the aorta, but research into cerebral emboli during aortic aneurysm repair and cognitive or neurologic injury is scarce and limited to thoracic aneurysms. This study prospectively studied embolic phenomena detected in the middle cerebral artery during infrarenal, juxtarenal, and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) and investigated links to delirium, stroke, and postoperative cognitive decline. ⋯ Patients are at risk of cerebral emboli during several types of endovascular aortic surgery, although TEVAR remains the highest risk procedure. As yet, there are no validated protective measures available to prevent cerebral emboli and their associated risks of clinical and subclinical neurologic injury.
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Fenestrated endovascular aneurysm repair (FEVAR) has been used successfully to treat patients with juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (JAAAs). Barriers to wide adoption of FEVAR include complexity in planning of fenestration locations on endografts. The purpose of this study was to validate the use of automated planning software to design fenestrated endografts and to treat patients with complex abdominal aortic aneurysms. ⋯ This automated FEVAR planning software accurately and efficiently identifies fenestration locations for vital branch arteries, thus simplifying the planning process and facilitating the FEVAR procedure. Validated automated FEVAR planning could help bring this beneficial therapy to most patients harboring JAAAs.
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Despite improved outcomes for open repair of descending thoracic aneurysm (DTA) and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA), these operations remain challenging in octogenarians. Patients unsuitable for thoracic endovascular aortic repair require open surgery to avoid catastrophic rupture. We analyzed our results for DTA/TAAA repair in these elderly patients. ⋯ In select octogenarians, open repair of DTA/TAAA can be performed with acceptable risk. A simplified surgical approach may provide the best opportunity for a successful outcome.