Comparison of thoracic aortic diameter changes after endograft placement in patients with traumatic and aneurysmal disease.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate acute changes in aortic size before and after endograft placement for traumatic injury and aneurysmal disease. We hypothesize that there are inherent differences between trauma and aneurysm populations undergoing thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) and that these factors may affect device choice and sizing for each group. METHODS: This retrospective study evaluated the existing digital imaging of traumatic injury and aneurysmal patients enrolled in the 0802 and 0803 multi-site trials that received the GORE Conformable TAG thoracic device. Pre- and post-treatment imaging was available for 70 traumatic injury and 54 aneurysmal patients. Post-treatment imaging was defined as being complete within 30 days of treatment. A standardized protocol was used to complete measurements of the proximal and distal maximum neck diameters through the use of the orthogonal view before imaging and at 30-day imaging. The resultant changes in diameter for each group were analyzed by means of t-tests. RESULTS: Mean increases in proximal (3.0 mm vs 2.0 mm; P < .05) and distal neck diameters (2.9 mm vs 0.7 mm; P < .01) after TEVAR are significantly greater in traumatic injury patients than in aneurysm patients between pretreatment and 30-day imaging. In both study populations, smaller pretreatment aortic neck diameters showed a larger change in neck diameter than did larger pretreatment aortic diameters. Aneurysm patients were oversized significantly more than were trauma patients at the proximal neck (9.1% vs 4.5%; P < .05). However, at the distal neck, the trauma patients were oversized more than were the aneurysm patients (17.5% vs 13.6%; P = .06). A strong correlation was found between the percentage of oversizing and change in the distal neck diameter after TEVAR in both patient groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that there are differences between trauma and aneurysm populations. Careful device selection may contribute to the avoidance of complications related to both undersized and oversized devices. Short-term analysis shows that TEVAR can be successfully accomplished in both trauma and aneurysm groups over a wide sizing range. Further data regarding long-term device complications are needed to better characterize this relationship.

Differences in aortic arch radius of curvature, neck size, and taper in patients with traumatic and aortic disease.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in aortic morphology that would potentially affect the management of thoracic endovascular aneurysm/aortic repair between trauma and aneurysm patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective analysis of the pretreatment digital imaging of 98 traumatic injury patients and 63 aneurysm patients enrolled in multicenter regulatory studies of the Conformable GORE TAG Thoracic Device (CTAG Device) (manufactured by W.L. Gore and Associates, Flagstaff, AZ). A standardized protocol was used to perform an independent assessment of the images and measurements of the radius of curvature and proximal and distal neck diameters. The radius of curvature was measured using axial images and the proximal and distal intimal neck diameter measurements were completed using the orthogonal "centerline" view. Taper was measured over the entire treated aorta and was calculated by subtracting the distal neck diameter measurement from the proximal neck diameter. The results were analyzed with independent t-tests. RESULTS: The trauma patients had a significantly smaller radius of curvature than aneurysm patients. There was a significant difference in the aortic neck size, with trauma patients having smaller proximal and distal intimal neck diameters. Taper was noted in trauma patients but not in aneurysm patients. CONCLUSIONS: The aortic anatomy varies between treated aortic pathologies. Aneurysm patients have a wider arch and larger aortas when compared with trauma patients. Aneurysm patients have less taper than trauma patients. Despite these differences, both of these cohorts of patients are treatable under the broader oversizing ranges of the CTAG Device.