Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the impact of a modified frozen elephant trunk procedure (mFET) on remodeling of the downstream aorta following acute aortic dissections.
Methods: Over a period of 8 years, 205 patients (mean age 62.6 ± 12.6 years) underwent a mFET (n = 69, 33.7%) or isolated ascending aorta replacement (n = 136, 66.3%) (iAoA). Aortic diameter was assessed at the aortic arch (AoA), at the mid of the thoracic aorta (mThA), at the thoracoabdominal transition (ThAbd) and at the celiac trunk level (AbdA).
Results: Mean follow-up was 3.3 ± 2.6 years. In-hospital mortality was 14% (n = 28), 7% in mFET and 17% in the iAoA group (p = 0.08). At the end of the follow-up, overall survival was 84% (95% CI 70-92%) and 75% (65-82%) and freedom from aorta-related reoperation was 100% and 95% (88-98%) for mFET and iAoA, respectively. At iAoA, the average difference in diameter change per year between mFET and iAoA was for total lumen 0 mm (- 0.95 to 0.94 mm, p = 0.99), and for true lumen, it was 1.23 mm (- 0.09 to 2.55 mm) per year, p = 0.067. False lumen demonstrated a decrease in diameter in mFET as compared to iAoA by - 1.43 mm (- 2.75 to - 0.11 mm), p = 0.034. In mFET, at the aortic arch level the total lumen diameter decreased from 30.7 ± 4.8 mm to 30.1 ± 2.5 mm (Δr + 2.90 ± 3.64 mm) and in iAoA it increased from 31.8 ± 4.9 to 34.6 ± 5.9 mm (Δr + 2.88 ± 4.18 mm).
Conclusion: The mFET procedure provides satisfactory clinical outcome at short term and mid-term and has a positive impact on aorta remodeling, especially at the level of the aortic arch.