[Surgical Strategy for Aortic Arch Aneurysm Depending on the Patient's Condition:Proper Selection of Open Surgery or Thoracic Endovascular Repair].

Objectives: We investigated the validity of the surgical strategy for aortic arch aneurysm depending on the patient's condition.

Methods: Between 2014 and 2019, 70 patients underwent total arch replacement (TAR) and 14 patients underwent fenestrated thoracic endovascular aortic repair( fTEVAR) for aortic arch aneurysm. We selected the surgical strategy on the basis of the patient's condition with or without frailty and if surgical risks including cancer or a respiratory condition precluded open surgery.

Results: The preoperative average ages were 73.3±7.8 years in the TAR group and 73.9±6.1 years in the fTEVAR group (p=0.93). EuroSCORE Ⅱ was 4.3±3.6 in the TAR group and 6.0±3.3 in the fTEVAR group (p=0.03). Frailty was observed in 11 patients (15.7%) in the TAR group and fivepatients (35.7%) in the fTEVAR group (p=0.08). In the fTEVAR group, there were three patients (21.4%) with cancer and three patients (21.4%) with a respiratory condition that precluded open surgery. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 0% for both groups, and the in-hospital mortality rate was 2.9% in the TAR group and 0% in the fTEVAR group (p=0.52). The incidence of stroke was 2.9% (two patients) in the TAR group and 7.1%( one patient) in the fTEVAR group( p=0.43). However, all stroke patients were able to walk at discharge. The cumulative survival rate was 88.9% and 83.5% in the TAR group and 85.1% and 68.1% in the fTEVAR group at two and five years, respectively (p=0.173). There were both 98.1% of patients in the TAR group and 85.7% and 75.0% of patients in the fTEVAR group who were free from reoperations at two and five years, respectively( p<0.01).

Conclusions: Our surgical strategy and outcomes for aortic arch aneurysm were generally appropriate. It is important to select open surgery or TEVAR depending on the patient's condition.