Endovascular management of aortoenteric fistulas with aortic cuff extenders: report of two cases.

Despite immediate open surgery, aortoenteric fistula (AEF) remains a highly lethal condition. Endovascular management is widely employed, although there is no agreement on its role as a definite treatment or, because of a high incidence of recurrent bleeding and sepsis, as a bridge to open repair. Two cases of secondary AEFs after distant elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair are presented. The first patient was a 76-year-old man and the second one a 70-year-old man. Both patients presented with hematemesis, had no signs of sepsis and were successfully managed with endovascular surgery, using aortic cuff extenders. Postoperative course was uneventful for both patients who were discharged on long-term antibiotics. However, during follow-up the first patient was readmitted four times; twice due to infection (at 2 and 6 months, respectively) and twice due to recurrent bleeding (at 5 and 9 months, respectively). The last episode of bleeding was managed with axillobifemoral bypass grafting, removal of the prostheses and closure of the aortic stump and the duodenal defect, but the patient died on the 5th postoperative day from multiple organ failure. The second patient remained asymptomatic until the 16th postoperative month when he developed lumbar spine osteomyelitis as a direct extension of graft infection and was deemed inoperable due to multiple comorbidities. Endovascular management of AEF can achieve satisfactory short-term results. Due to the high rate of recurrent bleeding and sepsis it should be used as a temporary measure and a bridge to open repair, whenever this is feasible.