Outcomes after treatment of complex aortic abdominal aneurysms with the fenestrated Anaconda endograft

Abstract

Objective: To date, information on the fenestrated Anaconda endograft is limited to case series with a small sample size. This study was performed to assess the technical and clinical outcome of this device in a large international case series.

Methods: All worldwide centers having treated more than 15 complex abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) or type IV thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm patients with the fenestrated Anaconda endograft were approached. Main outcome parameters were procedural technical success, postoperative and follow-up clinical outcome for endoleaks, target vessel patency, reintervention rate, and patient survival.

Results: Three hundred thirty-five consecutive cases treated between June 2010 and May 2018 in 11 sites were included. Patients were treated for a short neck infrarenal (n = 98), juxtarenal (n = 191), suprarenal AAA (n = 27), or type IV thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (n = 19). Mean age was 73.6 ± 4.6 years (292 male). Endografts contained a total of 920 fenestrations, with a mean of 2.7 ± 0.8 fenestrations per case. Technical success was 88.4% (primary, 82.7%; assisted primary 5.7%). In 6.9% of cases, a procedural type IA endoleak was observed, spontaneously disappearing in 82.6% during early follow-up. The development of a type IA endoleak was associated with greater neck angulation (odds ratio [OR], 0.94; P = .01), three fenestrations (OR, 42.7; P = .01) and the presence of augmented proximal rings (OR, 0.17; P = .03). Median follow-up was 1.2 years (interquartile range, 0.4-2.6). The mean estimated glomerular filtration rate deteriorated from 67.6 ± 19.3 mL/min/1.73 m² preoperatively to 59.3 ± 22.7 mL/min/1.73 m² at latest follow-up (P = .00). The freedom from AAA growth were 97.9 ± 0.9% (n = 190) and 86.4 ± 3.0% (n = 68), with a freedom from AAA rupture of 99.7 ± 0.3% (n = 191) and 99.1 ± 0.7% (n = 68), at 1 and 3 years, respectively. The endoleak-free survival, excluding spontaneously resolved procedural endoleaks, at 1 and 3 years was 73.4 ± 2.6 (n = 143) and 65.6 ± 3.4% (n = 45), respectively. The target vessel patency at one and three years were 96.4 ± 0.7% (n = 493) and 92.7 ± 1.4% (n = 156), respectively. A total of 75 reinterventions were done in 64 cases (19.1%), of which 25 cases for an endoleak. The reintervention-free survival at 1 and 3 years were 83.6 ± 2.2% (n = 190) and 71.0 ± 3.7% (n = 68), respectively. No deaths during procedure, extending within 24 hours postoperatively, were observed. Within 30 days 14 patients (4.2%) died and during follow-up another 39 patients (11.6%) died. Three deaths were considered AAA related (one rupture, one endograft infection, and one bilateral renal artery occlusion). The estimated cumulative survival at 1 and 3 years were 89.8 ± 1.8% (n = 191) and 79.2 ± 3.0% (n = 68), respectively.

Conclusions: The custom-made fenestrated Anaconda endograft is a valuable option for the treatment of a complex AAA. A procedural type IA endoleak is seen relatively frequently, but spontaneously resolves in most cases.

Keywords: Abdominal aortic aneurysm; Endovascular; FEVAR; Fenestrated Anaconda.