Techniques and outcomes of secondary endovascular repair for postdissection TAA/TAAA.

Postdissection aortic aneurysms (PDAA) affect 20-40% of patients with aortic dissection. Open repair remains the first line therapy of PDAA, but is still associated with high mortality and morbidity rates. Endovascular repair is increasingly being used as a less invasive treatment option. Thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair (TEVAR) covering only the proximal entry tear has proven to be insufficient in most patients with chronic PDAA and has a limited role only for PDAA with distal sealing zone in the thoracic aorta. In PDAA extending to the thoracoabdominal aorta, a more complex repair is needed to achieve aneurysm exclusion. Fenestrated and branched stent-grafts have been used lately in some expert centres to treat PDAA of the thoracoabdominal aorta with good preliminary results despite the technical difficulties in these patients (narrow true lumen, stiff chronic dissection flap, target vessels that originate from the false lumen [FL]). A subset of patients with aneurysmal degeneration mainly in the descending thoracic aorta, can be treated with TEVAR landing proximal to the celiac artery along with adjuvant techniques such as coils, plugs, glue or "Candy-Plug" and "Knickerbocker" concepts to occlude the FL, preventing retrograde flow and reducing the pressure in the aneurysm. Other options that have been used in limited numbers of patients with PDAA include the PETTICOAT (provisional extension to induce complete attachment) and STABILISE (Stent-Assisted Balloon-Induced Intimal Disruption and Relamination in Aortic Dissection Repair) techniques. This article aims to review the outcomes of different endovascular techniques and strategies available for the repair of PDAA.