The Arch and Beyond: Bare Stents in the Ascending Aorta

Purpose: To describe the management of complications from an unsuccessful hybrid repair of an aortic arch aneurysm. Case Report: A 63-year-old man with acute type B dissection and retrograde dissection into the aortic arch underwent emergent hybrid repair, with partial debranching (ascending aorta to left carotid artery bypass) and proximal stent-graft deployment. At 3 months, computed tomography (CT) showed stent-graft migration, causing a large type I endoleak; flow through the patent left subclavian artery (LSA) caused a large type II endoleak. At a second operation, a bilateral subclavian-to-carotid transposition was performed; the LSA was ligated and a Zenith TX2 thoracic endograft was deployed to seal the leak. Recurrent type I endoleak a year later prompted the final endovascular solution: total supra-aortic vessel debranching, proximal stent-graft deployment, and the unprecedented use of bare Z stents in the ascending aorta. CT at 18 months confirmed stable stent-graft position and no endoleak. Conclusion: Based on this initial experience, bare Z stents can be used to enhance proximal aortic stent-graft fixation and accommodation within the aortic arch.