Large left innominate vein aneurysm presenting as an anterior mediastinal tumour in a young female.

We report a rare case of large innominate vein aneurysm in a young women clinically presenting with persistent dry cough and retrosternal pressure. Chest X-ray showed a mediastinal widening leading to thoracic computed tomography, MRI, and phlebography. Initial conservative treatment with regular follow-up was performed.

Complete Antegrade Transapical Deployment of a Branched Aortic Arch Endograft: A Porcine Feasibility Study.

Purpose: To describe and prove the concept of a technique for complete transapical deployment of a single-branch aortic arch endograft in a porcine model.

Methods: Eight domestic pigs underwent antegrade transapical delivery of a single-branch arch endograft, including a mating stent-graft to the innominate artery. Technical feasibility, operating time, radiation parameters, and hemodynamic changes were studied according to a standardized protocol during baseline (T0), after establishing the transapical access and through-and-through wire (T1), and after stent-graft deployment (T2).

Transcardiac endograft delivery for endovascular treatment of the ascending aorta: a feasibility study in pigs.

Purpose: To compare the technical feasibility and hemodynamic alterations during antegrade transcardiac access routes vs conventional transfemoral access (TFA) for endovascular treatment of the ascending aorta in a porcine model.

Methods: Antegrade transseptal access (TSA), transapical access (TAA), and TFA were used for implantation of custom-made endografts into the ascending aorta under fluoroscopy (6 pigs each). Hemodynamic parameters, myocardial and cerebral blood flow, and carotid artery blood flow were evaluated during baseline (T1), sheath advancement (T2), after sheath retraction (T3), and after endograft deployment (T4).

Proximal thoracic endograft displacement rescued by balloon-assisted pull-back, external shunting, and in situ fenestration of the left carotid artery.

Proximal displacement of thoracic aortic endografts is a catastrophic adverse event, which rarely occurs but is associated with extremely high morbidity and mortality. We describe herein the case of a patient with accidental proximal displacement of a thoracic endograft with occlusion of all supra-aortic branches, successfully rescued by the combination of three advanced endovascular techniques: (1) aggressive pull-back maneuver with a compliant balloon; (2) establishment of an arterio-arterial temporary shunt to the occluded carotid artery over sheaths; and (3) in-situ fenestration of the occluded carotid artery.

Back-table modification of a bifurcated infrarenal stent-graft to aortomonoiliac for emergencies.

Purpose: To describe a simple and quick technique for converting a Zenith bifurcated stent-graft to an aortouni-iliac device for emergency treatment of hemorrhage when a suitable marketed stent-graft is not readily available.

Technique: The technique is described in an emergent case involving a 72-year-old man presenting with an aortoduodenal fistula and acute gastrointestinal bleeding. The Zenith device was prepared and flushed in the typical fashion.

Addressing persistent false lumen flow in chronic aortic dissection: the knickerbocker technique.

Purpose: To describe an innovative technique to occlude distal backflow into a false lumen aneurysm by controlled rupture of the dissection membrane after stent-graft implantation.

Technique: The "Knickerbocker technique" involves relining the true lumen in the descending aorta with an oversized thoracic tubular endograft, followed by controlled rupture of the dissection membrane using a large compliant balloon within the graft's midsection. This maneuver, which allows expansion of the stent-graft's midsection into the false lumen, was developed in order to occlude the large false lumen distally and thus prevent continued false lumen perfusion through distal abdominal entry tears.

Distal false lumen occlusion in aortic dissection with a homemade extra-large vascular plug: the candy-plug technique.

Purpose: To report a technique to create an extra-large vascular plug for occlusion of a large distal false lumen in chronic aortic dissection.

Technique: The "candy-plug" technique is demonstrated in a 58-year-old multimorbid man with a history of complicated acute type B aortic dissection and a 9-cm chronic thoracic false lumen aneurysm. The patient underwent a staged repair with a cervical debranching procedure as a first step and a thoracic endovascular aortic repair from the innominate artery to the celiac artery as a second step.

Antegrade side branch access in branched aortic arch endografts: a porcine feasibility study.

Purpose: To describe the deployment technique for a single side branch arch endograft in a porcine model and prove the concept of transseptal or transapical antegrade access for catheterization and introduction of the mating stent-graft.

Methods: Six domestic pigs were operated with retrograde delivery of a single side branch arch endograft and antegrade introduction of a mating stent-graft using transseptal access (n=3) and transapical access (n=3). Technical feasibility, operating time, radiation parameters, and hemodynamic changes were studied.

Hemodynamic impact of transseptal access to the ascending aorta in a porcine model.

Purpose: To evaluate the hemodynamic impact of transseptal sheath access to the ascending aorta using increasing sheath diameters.

Methods: Transseptal puncture was performed in 6 pigs (62±9 kg) facilitating guidewire passage across the left heart to the descending aorta to establish transseptal through-and-through access into the ascending aorta. Hemodynamic parameters were evaluated during 6- to 16-F sheath deployments and after sheath retraction according to a standardized protocol.