Low Profile Off the Shelf Multibranched Endografts for Urgent Endovascular Repair of Complex Aortic and Thoraco-abdominal Aneurysms in Patients with Hostile Iliac Access: European Multicentre Observational Study

Objective: The aim of the study was to report outcomes of a thoraco-abdominal, custom made, low profile (outer diameter 20 F) four branched endograft used as an off the shelf (OTS) solution for urgent juxta- and pararenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (JP-AAAs) and thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs) in the presence of hostile femoral or iliac access.

Methods: Data for patients who underwent endovascular repair for urgent JP-AAAs and TAAAs with hostile femoral or iliac access by a low profile, four branched endograft in four European aortic centres between 2019 and 2023 were collected prospectively and analysed retrospectively. The investigated device was a custom made endograft with the configuration of a standard t-Branch, used as an OTS solution for urgent cases with hostile femoral or iliac access. Access related complications, spinal cord ischaemia (SCI), and 30 day death were assessed as primary outcomes. Survival, freedom from re-interventions (FFRs), and iliac limb occlusion (ILO) were evaluated as secondary outcomes.

Results: Fifty five cases were enrolled: ruptures, n = 14 (25%); symptomatic, n = 12 (22%); and asymptomatic TAAAs with diameter ≥ 80 mm, n = 29 (53%). There were seven (13%) JP-AAAs and 48 (87%) TAAAs. The median right and left external iliac artery diameters were 6.7 (interquartile range [IQR] 5.5, 7.9) mm and 7.1 (IQR 6.5, 8.7) mm, respectively. Bilateral hostile femoral or iliac access was reported in 39 patients (71%). Access related complications occurred in five cases (9%). There were four cases (7%) of SCI with two permanent paraplegias. Four patients (7%) died within 30 days. The median follow up was 22 (IQR 11, 33) months. Overall, eight patients (15%) required re-interventions: four within 30 days and four during follow up. No ILO occurred. Estimated one year FFRs and survival were 91% and 87%, respectively.

Conclusion: Low profile OTS thoraco-abdominal endografts seems safe and effective to manage urgent JP-AAAs and TAAAs in the presence of hostile femoral or iliac access. Further larger studies with long term follow up are needed to validate this preliminary experience.