Endovascular management of blunt abdominal aortic injury

The endovascular management of blunt aortic injuries is being used more frequently in the trauma patient. Traumatic aortic injuries usually occur in the descending thoracic aorta near the origin of the left subclavian artery. Many reports in the literature demonstrate the efficacy of endovascular repair of blunt thoracic aortic injury. We report here an unusual case of abdominal aortic dissection secondary to blunt abdominal trauma following a fall. The patient also had associated intra-abdominal injuries requiring bowel resection and repair of small bowel mesenteric lacerations. He was treated with a bifurcated abdominal endograft with an excellent result after the initial operation was performed to treat the bowel injuries.     

Endovascular repair of traumatic descending thoracic aortic disruptions: should endovascular therapy become the gold standard?

Acute arterial disruptions of the thoracic aorta are rare and often lethal. They are most often due to blunt trauma and occur most commonly just distal to the left subclavian artery origin in the setting of multisystem injuries. The very proximal nature of the lesion in survivors makes open surgical repair hazardous, with mortality rates reaching over 20%. Endovascular therapy is a new and attractive option for the treatment of those challenging patients. Since March 2002, 3 patients with blunt and 1 patient with a stable iatrogenic descending aortic injury were successfully treated at this institution. Spiral computed tomography followed by angiography was used for diagnosis. No preexisting aortic pathology was present. Major associated injuries included unstable thoracic spinal fractures, abdominal solid organ injuries, and hip fractures, making the subjects poor surgical candidates. The Talent Endovascular Graft was deployed via open femoral or iliac artery access under fluoroscopic guidance. All 4 patients underwent successful exclusion of their thoracic pseudoaneurysm with use of the Talent endovascular graft. One patient required partial coverage of the left subclavian artery, and a second patient had an iliac artery stent deployed after traversal of an area of stenosis with the delivery system. There were no cardiac, neurologic, pulmonary, or peripheral vascular complications. Acute aortic disruption, with its associated high surgical morbidity and mortality, is an excellent indication for endovascular therapy to improve patient outcomes. More long-term data are needed on repair durability.     

Blunt injury of the innominate artery and left innominate vein

Injuries to the branches of the aortic arch are rare and may be caused by blunt, penetrating, blast or iatrogenic trauma. Innominate vascular injury is a rare entity, particularly in blunt trauma. It is estimated that 71% of patients with innominate injuries die before arrival at the hospital. We report here a successfully managed case of a combined blunt trauma of the innominate artery and transection of the left innominate vein after blunt injury to the chest.     

Aortic reconstruction after complex injury of the mid-transverse arch

We report the case of a 28-year-old man who suffered a transection of the mid-transverse aortic arch between the innominate and left common carotid artery with complete avulsion of the left common carotid artery after blunt trauma. This patient underwent successful aortic arch replacement proximal to the left subclavian artery and reimplantation of the innominate and left carotid arteries using profound hypothermic circulatory arrest and selective antegrade cerebral perfusion. A literature review revealed no other previous reports of survival after this type of injury.     

Intrathoracic Aneurysm of the Innominate and Right Subclavian Arteries: Report of a Case

Aneurysms of the innominate and subclavian arteries are uncommon but associated with high mortality rates. We report herein the case of a 45-year-old man who presented with facial anhidrosis that developed several years after blunt thoracic trauma, in whom an aneurysm involving the innominate and subclavian arteries was revealed by preoperative examinations. Resection of the aneurysm and reconstruction from the ascending aorta to both the subclavian and common carotid arteries using a bifurcated graft was successfully performed without brain perfusion. Although the left posterior cerebral artery, which was not manipulated during surgery, became occluded, it was recanalized by thrombolysis. The patient was discharged in good health and has remained well since. Received: January 19, 2000 / Accepted: July 25, 2000     

Left subclavian to descending aorta bypass: A less invasive extra‐anatomical solution for a type A interrupted aortic arch

Interrupted aortic arch (IAA) is defined as a discontinuity of the aortic lumen from the aortic arch to the descending aorta. The incidence of this congenital malformation is three per million live births. It represents about 1.5% of congenital cardiac abnormalities. The classification system for IAA is divided into three distinct categories—type A: interruption of the lumen distal to the left subclavian artery, occurring in 43% cases; type B: interruption between the left carotid and left subclavian arteries, occurring in 53% cases (the most common); and type C: interruption between the innominate and left carotid, occurring in 4% cases. We describe the case of a 47‐year‐old woman who had a symptomatic type A IAA. A single‐stage extra‐anatomic bypass was performed between the left subclavian and the descending thoracic aorta using a 14 mm Dacron graft. The use of this approach is an option to solve this challenging clinical problem.     

Traumatic rupture of the aorta: origin, diagnosis, and therapy of a life-threatening aortic injury

In polytraumatized patients, traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is usually caused by blunt vascular injuries due to deceleration. The aortic injury is generally located distal to the left subclavian artery. Even without further thoracic lesions, a computer tomography should be performed in the emergency room, because a rupture can exist even in the absence of symptoms. The traditional therapeutic option is open, left thoracotomy followed by direct aortic reconstruction. Alternatively, endovascular implantation of a thoracic stent graft can be performed immediately in urgent situations or, with delayed priority, under systematically management of the blood pressure. In this article, not only the mechanisms of injury but also diagnostic and therapeutic options of traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta are described. As depicted by two case histories, potential symptoms and prognosis of patients with this life-threatening vascular lesion depend on accompanying injuries. With rapid diagnosis and treatment, there is the possibility of good recovery from traumatic aortic rupture.     

Blunt and penetrating trauma of the thoracic aorta and aortic arch branches: an autopsy study

BACKGROUND: Due to the highly lethal nature of trauma of the thoracic aorta and aortic arch branches (TA-AAB), autopsy studies are essential for the investigation of its epidemiologic characteristics. METHODS: The reports of 11,446 consecutive medicolegal autopsies were reviewed. Among 1,980 injury-related fatalities, 251 victims (12.7%) with 302 TA-AAB injuries were found. Several trauma variables were recorded and their relations were examined. RESULTS: Blunt TA-AAB injuries were recorded in 86.4% of the victims. They were located mainly at the aortic isthmus and distal descending thoracic aorta and were accompanied to a great extent by extrathoracic trauma. The vast majority of penetrating lacerations were located at the ascending aorta, arch, and arch branches and were mostly associated with other lethal intrathoracic injuries. All penetrating trauma victims died before reaching the hospital, whereas 5.5% of the blunt trauma victims were admitted to the hospital alive. CONCLUSION: Major differences between blunt and penetrating TA-AAB injuries were revealed, regarding their location, patterns of concomitant injuries, and victims' survival time. Patients injured in motor vehicle crashes, as opposed to various other causes of trauma, were found to have the best chances of reaching the hospital alive.     

Blunt injury of the innominate artery: a case report and review of literature.

Innominate artery injury after blunt trauma is uncommon and mostly observed at its origin from the aorta. We report here an unusual case of distal innominate artery injury associated with acute right subclavian occlusion. MEDLINE search of blunt traumatic injury to the innominate artery revealed a total of 132 case reports by the end of 2003, including this case report, and all these published studies were reviewed.     

A case report of emergency surgical repair of traumatic transection of thoracic descending aorta

The injury to the thoracic aorta caused by blunt chest trauma is often fatal. This case is 22-year-old male suffering from transection of the thoracic descending aorta caused by traffic accident. He was transported to our emergency room by an ambulance 15 minutes after the accident. Hundred fifty minutes after arrival to the hospital, we were rush to bring him to the operation theater suspecting serious injury of the thoracic organs in association with left hemothorax. The left standard thoracotomy disclosed the injury of the thoracic descending aorta. Simple cross clamp was applied to the thoracic descending aorta distal to the left subclavian artery for 20 minutes. Completely transected aorta was reapproximated using monofilament 3-0 polypropylene sutures with running manner. He tolerated the procedure well without any complication. His postoperative course was uneventful. He was followed up at the orthopedic department for associated hip fracture thereafter.     

Traumatic Rupture of the Thoracic Aorta

Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is a life threatening situation, and may be secondary to several mechanisms; mainly penetrating or iatrogenic lesions and blunt trauma. Although penetrating mechanisms predominate, the number of patients with aortic disruption due to blunt trauma has continued to increase. This paper shows an overview focusing on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, timing and type of treatment regarding traumatic injuries of the thoracic aorta; it also reports the experience of one single center that deals with these lesions.

The major difficulty in the evaluation data on blunt aortic injury is that retrospective reviews often group together patients with all types of aortic lesions, comparing outcomes for injuries in different locations, with diverse methods of repair and different surgeons and/or institutions.     

Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta

Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is a life threatening situation, and may be secondary to several mechanisms; mainly penetrating or iatrogenic lesions and blunt trauma. Although penetrating mechanisms predominate, the number of patients with aortic disruption due to blunt trauma has continued to increase. This paper shows an overview focusing on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, timing and type of treatment regarding traumatic injuries of the thoracic aorta; it also reports the experience of one single center that deals with these lesions. The major difficulty in the evaluation data on blunt aortic injury is that retrospective reviews often group together patients with all types of aortic lesions, comparing outcomes for injuries in different locations, with diverse methods of repair and different surgeons and/or institutions.     

The isolated posttraumatic aneurysm of the brachiocephalic artery after blunt thoracic contusion

Most supra-aortic aneurysms are localized in the extracranial carotid and subclavian artery. Aneurysms of the brachiocephalic artery (BCA) represent a rather rare finding. Chronic arteriosclerotic changes are responsible for the majority of cases. Posttraumatic BCA damage is only occasionally encountered, complete vascular dissection by perforating injuries being the dominant causative mechanism. Although isolated BCA trauma after blunt thoracic contusion is rare, brachiocephalic injury in association with aortic lesions seems to be the second most common site of vascular injury after the aorta. Cases of isolated blunt BCA trauma documented in the literature to date usually involved a complete avulsion of the artery from the aortic arch or complete rupture near the aortic origin. We present an isolated case of posttraumatic BCA aneurysm in a woman involved in a car accident who suffered blunt chest trauma with a subtotal, near circumferential vessel wall dissection of only the intima and media. Clinical features, diagnostic procedure, surgical treatment, and trauma mechanisms of postcontusional BCA lesions are described and discussed in reference to the literature.Presented at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Association of International Vascular Surgeons, Les Arcs, France, March 22, 1991.     

Endovascular stent graft repair of a thoracic aortic gunshot injury

Endovascular treatment approaches offer minimally invasive alternative strategies for the management of vascular injuries. While endovascular stent graft repair of blunt injury to the thoracic aorta is well described, there are few reports of its application for treatment of penetrating injuries of the thoracic aorta. We report the successful treatment of a through-and-through gunshot injury of the thoracic aorta and review how this technology may be applied for the treatment of penetrating thoracic aortic injury.     

Comparison of multiplane transesophageal echocardiography and contrast-enhanced helical CT in the diagnosis of blunt traumatic cardiovascular injuries

BACKGROUND: Multiplane transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and helical computed tomography (CT) of the chest have been validated separately against aortography for the diagnosis of acute traumatic aortic injuries (ATAI). However, their respective diagnostic accuracy in identifying blunt traumatic cardiovascular lesions has not been compared. METHODS: During a 3-yr period, 110 consecutive patients with severe blunt chest trauma (age: 41 +/- 17 yr; injury severity score: 34 +/- 14) prospectively underwent TEE and chest CT as part of their initial evaluation. Results of both imaging methods were interpreted independently by experienced investigators and subsequently compared. All cases of subadventitial acute traumatic aortic injury were surgically confirmed. RESULTS: Seventeen patients had vascular injury and 11 had cardiac lesions. TEE and CT identified all subadventitial disruptions involving the aortic isthmus (n = 10) or the ascending aorta (n = 1) that necessitated surgical repair. In contrast, CT only depicted one disruption of the innominate artery. TEE detected injuries involving the intimal or medial layer, or both, of the aortic isthmus in four patients with apparently normal CT results who underwent successful conservative treatment. All cardiac injuries but two were identified only by TEE. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with severe blunt chest trauma, TEE and CT have similar diagnostic accuracy for the identification of surgical acute traumatic aortic injuy. TEE also allows the diagnosis of associated cardiac injuries and is more sensitive than CT for the identification of intimal or medial lesions of the thoracic aorta.     

Outcomes of surgical and endovascular treatment of acute traumatic thoracic aortic injury

BACKGROUND: Acute thoracic aortic injury resulting from blunt trauma is a life-threatening condition. Endovascular therapy is a less invasive treatment modality that may potentially improve patient outcomes. We reviewed our experience with patients who sustained blunt thoracic aortic injuries distal to the left subclavian artery and presented for open surgical or endovascular repair. METHODS: Between August 1993 and August 2006, 62 patients sustained blunt thoracic aortic injuries distal to the origin of the left subclavian artery and proceeded to undergo open surgical (n = 48, 77%), or endovascular repair (n = 14, 23%). Revised trauma score (RTS), injury severity score (ISS), new injury severity score (NISS), individual associated traumatic injuries, as well as operative and postoperative outcomes were compared between open surgical and endovascular groups. RESULTS: Age, gender, race, and mechanism of injury did not differ between open surgical and endovascular groups. Additionally, RTS, ISS, and NISS values were not significantly different. The proportion of patients with sternal fractures (14% vs 0%), or unstable spinal fractures (36% vs 10%) was significantly greater in the endovascular group. Of the patients who received endografts, 93% (n = 13) were evaluated by a cardiothoracic surgeon and assessed to be prohibitive to operative intervention. Endografts utilized included commercially manufactured thoracic endografts (n = 6; 43%) and abdominal aortic endograft components (n = 8; 57%). Forty-one interposition grafts were placed in the open surgical group. Renal complications (32% vs 7%), and urinary tract infections (35% vs 7%) approached significance between surgical and endovascular groups (P = .082 and P = .077, respectively). Intraoperative mortality for the surgical and endovascular groups was 23% and 0%, respectively (P = .056). Endovascular repair was associated with significant reductions in operative time (118 vs 209 minutes), estimated blood loss (77 vs 3180 ml), and intraoperative blood transfusions (0.9 vs 6.1 units). No endoleaks were detected during a mean follow-up of 9.4 months in the endovascular group. CONCLUSION: Endovascular repair of blunt descending thoracic aortic injuries utilizing thoracic or abdominal endographs is a technically feasible modality that is at least equivalent to open therapy in the short term and associated with a lower intraoperative mortality (P = .056). Endovascular therapy has advantages in operative time, operative blood loss, and intraoperative blood transfusions.     

Blunt traumatic avulsion of an intercostal artery: an unusual case of thoracic aortic injury.

The aortic isthmus is the most commonly injured part of the thoracic aorta in patients who survive blunt deceleration injury to that vessel long enough to reach a hospital. Occasionally, avulsion of the brachiocephalic arteries from the aortic arch is seen. The authors describe an unusual form of intrathoracic vascular injury in which mediastinal hemorrhage occurred secondary to avulsion of an intercostal artery from the descending thoracic aorta as a result of a vertical deceleration injury.     

Repair of lesions of the descending thoracic aorta with the TDMAC-heparin shunt

Utilizing a heparinized tridodecylmethylammonium chloride (TDMAC) shunt makes it possible to treat various surgical diseases of the descending thoracic aorta without cardiopulmonary bypass. Since the initial report by Gott and associates on the use of the heparinized shunt, few subsequent clinical trials have appeared in the literature. Six patients with Type III dissecting thoracic aneurysm, acquired and congenital coarctation of the aorta, saccular arteriosclerotic aneurysm, and transection of the descending thoracic aorta were operated upon by means of this technique. Only one patient had more than 500 ml. of chest tube drainage in the first 8 hours postoperatively. There were no instances of paraplegia, renal failure, or death. This technique is also recommended for repair of innominate artery aneurysms, endarterectomy of the innominate or subclavian artery, arch aneurysm, penetrating injuries of the thoracic aorta, and proximal abdominal aneurysms. Surgical indications, operative management, and postoperative follow-up are discussed.     

Emergent management of penetrating trauma of aortic arch in a countryside hospital

According to the literature, only a small proportion of occurrences regarding penetrating trauma of the thoracic aorta can be treated successfully. Herein we reported our experience of a recent rescue of such a patient in a countryside hospital lacking advanced instruments for cardiopulmonary bypass operations. A 20-year-old male was admitted for a penetrating injury with disrupted innominate vein and right common carotid artery together with a 1.5-cm laceration on the aortic arch between the innominate artery and the left common carotid artery. The patient was successfully saved without the implementation of cardiopulmonary bypass. Presentation and management in this case were discussed.     

Anterior approach to traumatic mid aortic arch transection

The majority of nonpenetrating traumatic injuries to the thoracic aorta are fatal. Survivors of aortic transection tend to have injuries occurring at the isthmus. We report a rare, blunt traumatic complete transection of the mid aortic arch between the innominate and left common carotid arteries diagnosed by multidetector computed tomography of the chest. The repair was approached anteriorly and required aortic arch replacement.