The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the long-term outcomes of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for challenging aortic necks. Subgroup analyses were performed on 156 patients from the prospective multicenter Talent eLPS (enhanced Low Profile Stent Graft System) trial. Patients with high-risk aortic necks (length < 15 mm or diameter ≥28 mm) were compared with the remaining patients. Patients with high-risk ( n = 86) and low-risk necks ( n = 70) had similar age and gender distribution. Despite similar prevalences of co-morbidities, the high-risk group had higher Society for Vascular Surgery scores. The high-risk group also had larger maximum aneurysm diameters (56.6 versus 53.0 mm, P < 0.02). There were lower freedoms from major adverse events (MAEs) for the high-risk group at 30 days (84.9 versus 95.7%; P < 0.04) and 365 days (73.4 versus 89.2%; P = 0.02). Effectiveness endpoints at 12 m showed no significant differences. Freedom from all-cause mortality at 30 days (96.5 versus 100%) and aneurysm-related mortality at 365 days (96.0 versus 100%) were similar. At five years, there were no differences in endoleaks or change in aneurysm diameter. All migrations occurred in the high-risk group. The five-year freedom from aneurysm-related mortality for the high- and low-risk groups was 93.2 and 100%, respectively. In conclusion, despite a higher rate of MAEs within the first year and higher migration rates at five years, EVAR in aneurysms with challenging aortic necks can be treated with acceptable long-term results.
Postoperative Surveillance and Long-Term Outcomes After Endovascular Aneurysm Repair Among Medicare Beneficiaries
