Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in patients with challenging anatomy: utility of the hybrid endograft

Commercially available aortic stent grafts differ in construction and clinical advantage such that creating hybrid endografts by combining components from different manufacturers is sometimes useful. We describe a multicenter experience using hybrid endografts to treat patients with challenging anatomy. Hospital records and office charts were reviewed from four institutions. Hybrid endografts were defined as those with two types of covered stents in continuity to treat an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Indications for hybrid grafts were defined by type of endoleak and whether an endoleak was expected or unexpected as determined by the preoperative radiographic evaluation. Endpoints include intraoperative endoleaks, late endoleaks, change in aneurysm size, and rupture. Hybrid endografts were used to treat AAA (endovascular aneurysm repair EVAR]) in 90 patients, representing 7.9% of the total multicenter experience. In 7 patients (7.8%), a hybrid graft construction as a secondary procedure successfully corrected a type 1 endoleak. In the remaining 83 patients (92.2%), hybrid grafts were created at the time of original EVAR to treat expected challenging anatomy or unexpected endoleaks. Hybrid endografts corrected 88 (97.8%) type 1 endoleaks, but 2 patients (2.2%) persisted with a proximal type 1 leak requiring conversion. During follow-up of 1 to 24 months, computed tomography and ultrasound surveillance, available for 73 patients (81.1%), detected one unresolved distal type 1 (1.1%) and seven type 2 (7.8%) endoleaks. Aneurysm size decreased at least 0.5 cm in 23 of 50 patients (46.0%) at 6 months and in 19 of 31 patients (61.3%) at 12 months. Aneurysm size increased at least 0.5 cm in 4 of 50 patients (8.0%) at 6 months and in 1 of 31 patients (3.2%) at 12 months. There were no ruptures. Hybrid endografts have favorable early and intermediate results in the treatment of AAA. Long-term follow-up will be needed to confirm the absence of significant adverse biomaterial interaction and the effect on AAA exclusion. We advocate the use of hybrid endografts as endovascular therapy for patients whose anatomy may be unsuitable for a single endograft type.