Avant-Garde Endovascular Stent Graft Insertion in Dissected Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm.

Current guidelines and regulatory parameters for cardiothoracic surgery in the United States establish that open surgery is the first front line for treating ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms (ATAA). Despite advances in performing endovascular procedures in thoracic aortic aneurysms, there are no approved state-of-the-art techniques that allow endovascular procedures to be performed in ATAA. Thus, thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) of the ascending aorta, as we will demonstrate, is a useful and effective technical opportunity for treating high-risk patients with type A dissections, intramural hematomas, and pseudoaneurysms.

Kommerell's Diverticulum in an Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery: First Case Reported in a Male of Puerto Rican Descent.

A Kommerell's diverticulum is a rare embryologic defect of the aortic arch. The majority of the patients having this defect present with dysphagia, dyspnea, and syncope, or a combination of any 2 or all 3. For symptomatic cases, surgical correction is always the standard of care.