Results of thoracic endovascular aortic repair 6 years after United States Food and Drug Administration approval.

BACKGROUND: Since United States Food and Drug Administration approval in 2005, the short-term safety and efficacy of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) have been established. However, longer-term follow-up data remain lacking. The objective of this study is to report 6-year outcomes of TEVAR in clinical practice.
METHODS: A prospective cohort review was performed of all patients undergoing TEVAR at a single referral institution between March 2005 and May 2011. Rates of reintervention were noted. Overall and aortic-specific survival were determined using Kaplan-Meier methods. Log-rank tests were used to compare survival between groups.
RESULTS: During the study interval, 332 TEVAR procedures were performed in 297 patients. Reintervention was required after 12% of procedures at a mean of 8 ± 14 months after initial TEVAR and was higher in the initial tercile of patients (15.0% vs 9.9%). The 6-year freedom from reintervention was 84%. Type I endoleak was the most common cause of reintervention (5%). Six-year overall survival was 54%, and aorta-specific survival was 92%. Long-term survival was significantly lower than that of an age- and sex-matched United States population (p < 0.001). Survival was similar between patients requiring a reintervention vs those not (p = 0.26). Survival was different based on indication for TEVAR (p = 0.007), and patients with degenerative aneurysms had the lowest survival (47% at 6 years). Cardiopulmonary pathologies were the most common cause of death (27 of 93 total deaths).
CONCLUSIONS: Long-term aortic-related survival after TEVAR is high, and the need for reintervention is infrequent. However, overall long-term survival is low, particularly for patients with degenerative aneurysms, and additional work is needed to identify patients unlikely to derive a survival benefit from TEVAR.