Rate of paraplegia and mortality in elective descending and thoracoabdominal aortic repair in the modern surgical era

BACKGROUND: The risk of paraplegia and hospital death is the major concern in the surgical repair of descending and thoracoabdominal aortic pathologies. For specific indications, the evolving technology of endovascular stent grafting is becoming increasingly popular. We reviewed our results for elective surgical repair of various aortic pathologies with respect to this innovative therapeutic background. METHODS: From July 1993 to April 2006, 56 patients (mean age 55 +/- 16 years, range 25 to 80 years, 62.5 % males) underwent elective surgical repair of the descending (n = 37, 66.1 %) and thoracoabdominal aorta (n = 19, 33.9 %), including seven reoperations and five cases of previous endovascular stent grafting. The underlying pathologies were: degenerative aneurysm (n = 21), type B aortic dissection (n = 24), and Marfan's syndrome with a chronic type B dissection and an increase in the diameter of the descending aorta (n = 11), respectively. Most patients were operated using deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. RESULTS: Thirty-day mortality was 5.4 % (n = 3). Two patients died of myocardial infarction, one after coronary stent occlusion. Another patient died due to ventricular disruption at the side of the left ventricular apical vent. The rate of paraplegia was 3.6 % (n = 2) with one case of complete and one of incomplete paraplegia. Survival at five years was 78 %. CONCLUSIONS: If modern surgical principles are used in elective descending and thoracoabdominal aortic repair, surgery can be performed with a low postoperative risk for hospital death or paraplegia. These results should be taken into account when evaluating alternative therapeutic strategies in patients with similar pathologies.