Endovascular stent graft repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms in high-risk patients: a single center experience

BACKGROUND: Endovascular stent graft (EVG) repair can be a safe alternative to open surgical repair to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in high-risk patients. We report our results with EVG repair in such high-risk patients at our institution. OBJECTIVES: We wanted to show that EVG repair can be performed successfully and with a low complication rate in patients with serious comorbidities. METHODS: All patients prospectively studied underwent EVG repair of AAA from February 2000 to July 2002. RESULTS: Of the 60 patients studied, 45 (75%) were high-risk surgical candidates because of associated comorbidities; their aneurysms ranged from 4.5 to 10 cm (mean: 5.7 +/- 1.2 cm). Fifty-nine of 60 patients (98.3%) were treated successfully. Two (3.3%) who underwent surgical intervention for site-related complications died from postoperative complications. Hospital stay was(77%) patients. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results show that EVG is safe, feasible, and yields excellent technical success even in patients at high risk for complications. Teamwork between interventional cardiologists and vascular surgeons is advised