Early and late outcomes of type A acute aortic dissection with common carotid artery involvement.

Objective: The relationship between common carotid artery (CCA) involvement in acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) and postoperative outcomes remains unclear. We investigated outcomes and described our current advanced strategy.

Methods: Of 492 patients who underwent surgical repair for ATAAD between September 1999 and February 2021, CCA involvement was identified in 114. Eighty of these 114 patients (70.2%) were classified as having a thrombosed CCA and 34 (29.8%) were classified as nonthrombosed. To prevent postoperative cerebral malperfusion, we initiated a strategy of early reperfusion and direct reconstruction of dissected and thrombosed CCAs regardless of neurologic symptoms.

Results: Fifty-five patients (48.2%) showed preoperative neurologic symptoms. No significant differences between the thrombosed and nonthrombosed groups were seen in postoperative mortality (20.0% vs 11.8%;  = .421) or frequency of postoperative modified Rankin scale (mRS) score ≥5 (30.0% vs 17.6%;  = .245). The rate of postoperative neurologic deficit was significantly higher (48.8% vs 23.5%;  = .013) and long-term survival rate was significantly lower (5 years; 59.1 ± 6.3% vs 77.9 ± 7.4%; 10 years: 50.0 ± 7.9% vs 72.3 ± 8.7%;  = .041) in the thrombosed group. Risk factors for mRS ≥5 from multivariable analysis included occluded thrombosed CCA, preoperative coma, preoperative shock, and prolonged operation time. Fifteen patients were treated with the early reperfusion and direct reconstruction strategy; postoperative mortality 13.3% (2 patients). No patients showed cerebral reperfusion syndrome.

Conclusions: In patients with CCA involvement, a thrombosed false lumen, especially an occluded CCA, resulted in worse outcomes regardless of preoperative neurologic symptoms. Further study is needed to evaluate the efficacy of the current strategy.