Role of endovascular repair in the management of late pseudo-aneurysms following open surgery for aortic coarctation.

Background: Coarctation of the aorta accounts for almost 5% of all congenital cardiac malformations, and it is usually treated by open surgical procedures. Despite the excellent primary results, many patients may develop anastomotic pseudo-aneurysms, associated with considerable morbidity and mortality rates. We investigated the role of endovascular repair as an alternative to open re-do surgery on the descending aorta.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data of 11 consecutive patients who presented with pseudo-aneurysms of the descending aorta following previous surgical repair of congenital aortic coarctation. Nine patients developed a pseudo-aneurysm after patch aortoplasty, while an interposition graft repair was performed in two cases. Seven patients underwent an endovascular repair (26.9 years after the previous open surgery). Four patients with a pseudo-aneurysm after coarctation repair associated with arch hypoplasia underwent conventional open re-operation.

Results: No complications or death were observed in the conventional surgical group. Technical success was obtained in all patients who received a stent-graft procedure. More than one stent graft was necessary only in one case. A left carotid-left subclavian artery bypass was performed in three patients. Type II endoleak was detected by angiography in one patient who had previously undergone subclavian re-vascularisation. The median follow-up (FU) was 44.5 months and was 100% complete. Neither re-operations nor complications or deaths occurred during FU.

Conclusions: Endovascular repair of pseudo-aneurysms following open surgery for aortic coarctation is feasible and safe. However, more patients and longer follow-up are necessary to assess the efficacy of this promising less-invasive alternative to open re-do surgery.