[Intra-aortic covered endoprosthesis].

Because of the risk and complications related to surgery of the aorta, the development of new, less invasive endovascular techniques has resulted in a certain enthusiasm for these new treatments on the part of physicians and industry. The insertion of aortic stents allows the treatment of almost one half of aneurysm of the infrarenal abdominal aorta and descending aorta. The results appear to demonstrate the medium-term reliability and efficacy of these new techniques with a lower morbidity-mortality rate than that of conventional surgery. However, preoperative and intraoperative imaging plays an essential role in the success of these new methods. Finally, although the medium-term results are encouraging, the long-term outcome of these new materials is unknown, which justifies close surveillance of these patients and prospective comparative studies.