ENDOVASCULAR REPAIR OF ABDOMINAL AORTIC-ANEURYSM - LIMITATIONS OF THESINGLE PROXIMAL STENT TECHNIQUE

Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has been perfor med using both a single proximal stent technique and a double (proxima l and distal) stent method to anchor a graft in the aneurysm lumen. Th is study examined the effect of the single proximal stent technique on femoral artery blood flow, renal function and the occurrence of back- bleeding into the aneurysm sac in a canine model; eight dogs were used . Femoral artery blood flow and glomerular filtration rate were not af fected by graft-stent insertion. Two graft-stent combinations failed t o deploy in the correct position and led to graft thrombosis in one ca se. The six correctly positioned grafts all showed back-bleeding from around the distal end into the aneurysm sac. The single proximal stent technique for endovascular repair of AAA is inadequate and attention should continue to focus on a double (proximal and distal) stent metho d or a bifurcated system.