Combined endovascular and surgical treatment of infected carotid-carotid bypass graft.

Purpose: To present a complex case involving an infected carotid-carotid bypass graft that was successfully treated with a stent-graft and subsequent surgical removal of the infected graft.

Case Report: A 75-year-old woman presented with persistent purulent drainage of an infected and exposed carotid-carotid prosthetic bypass graft. Wound cultures revealed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. She was treated with appropriate intravenous antibiotic therapy without improvement in wound drainage. Because of her comorbid conditions, a decision was made to pursue endovascular revascularization of her left and right common carotid arteries (CCA), with subsequent surgical removal of the infected prosthetic graft. The patient underwent balloon angioplasty; a 7x18-mm Omnilink stent was deployed in the innominate artery and a 7x18-mm Herculink stent in the ostial left CCA. During the same procedure, the carotid-carotid bypass graft was excluded with deployment of an 8x50-mm Viabahn stent-graft in the right CCA. Several days later, the infected and now thrombosed carotid-carotid bypass graft was surgically removed, and an area of adjacent muscle was used to patch the previously excluded connection of the bypass from the right CCA. A saphenous vein patch was used to repair the defect in the left CCA. Her postoperative course was uneventful. At 1 year, the clinical and duplex examinations revealed satisfactory wound healing and patent left and right CCAs.

Conclusion: This case indicates that a combined endovascular and surgical approach may be a safe and effective option in the treatment of carotid-carotid bypass graft infection.