Management and endovascular treatment of symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms = Gestione e trattamento endovascolare degli aneurismi dell'aorta addominale sintomatici

Purpose. Our aim is to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of endovascular treatment for symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) in urgencies and emergencies. Materials and methods. Over the past 51 months, we treated 38 symptomatic AAAs with endovascular exclusion. In 23 haemodynamically stable patients, computed tomography (CT) angiography was performed before treatment, and AAA exclusion was carried out as an urgent procedure; 15 patients with haemorrhagic shock were examined by ultrasound (US) only in the emergency room whereas the procedure was carried out in emergency and planned using angiography. Time from presentation to treatment was 100 min on average (range: 50-150 min). We used 27 Excluder (Gore) and 11 Zenith (Cook) stent-grafts. The follow-up was performed with CT angiography after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and yearly thereafter. Results. The immediate technical success rate was 100%, and the perioperative mortality rate was 10.5%. At follow-up completed in 34 patients (range: 1-48 months, mean: 19.2), we observed five endoleaks (14%) (four type 2: two thrombosed spontaneously and two were under observation at the time of writing; one type 3, treated with stent-graft extension) and one occlusion of a stent-graft leg (treated by femorofemoral bypass). Conclusions. Endovascular treatment of AAAs is a good therapeutic alternative even in urgency and emergency conditions where correct planning ensures technical results comparable with those obtained under elective conditions.