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SAGE Publications, Journal of Endovascular Therapy, 4(26), p. 550-555, 2019

DOI: 10.1177/1526602819851251

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Anatomical Predictors of Flared Limb Complications in Endovascular Aneurysm Repair

This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate possible predictors of complications with flared iliac stent-graft limbs for ectatic common iliac arteries (CIAs) associated with abdominal aortic aneurysms treated with endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Materials and Methods: A retrospective comparative analysis was conducted of 533 EVAR patients (mean age 75 years; 442 men) treated between 2012 and 2017 who had complications associated with the stent-graft limbs (n=1066). Complications, including type Ib endoleak, type IIIa endoleak, and limb occlusion, were compared between patients with nondilated (<16 mm) CIAs treated with standard iliac limbs (SLs, n=808) vs patients with ectatic CIAs treated with flared limbs (FLs, n=258). Follow-up included a duplex scan at 3, 6, and 12 months and yearly thereafter; computed tomography angiography was performed in case of iliac complications. Risk factors for iliac complications in FLs were investigated using Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses; results of the regression analysis are presented as the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Overall, no iliac complications occurred at 30 days, but over a mean follow-up of 38±8 months, there were 10 (1%) events (4 limb occlusions, 6 type Ib endoleaks): 7 (3%) in FLs and 3 (0.4%) in SLs (p=0.20). Kaplan-Meier analysis found no differences at 5 years in SLs vs FLs for freedom from limb occlusion (99%±1% vs 98%±1%, respectively; p=0.30) or type Ib endoleak (96%±3% vs 97%±1%, respectively; p=0.44). Similarly, the overall 5-year iliac complication rates were similar in SLs vs FLs (96%±3% vs 95%±2%, p=0.21). Regression analysis found CIA length ≤30 mm (HR 4.7, 95% CI 1.02 to 21.6, p=0.04) and a diameter ≥20 mm (HR 7.8, 95% CI 1.05 to 64.8, p=0.03) to be independent predictors of iliac complications in FLs. Kaplan-Meier estimates of iliac complication–free survival in FLs were significantly worse when the CIA length was ≤30 mm (79%±9% vs 98%±1%, p=0.003) or the diameter was ≥20 mm (85%±7% vs 99%±1%, p=0.02). The combination of both risk factors produced significantly poorer iliac complication–free survival compared with cases in which there was one or no risk factor (67%±19% vs 96%±2% vs 99%±1%, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusion: Iliac limb complications are infrequent in EVAR, regardless of the type of iliac limb chosen; however, CIAs ≤30 mm in length or ≥20 mm in diameter significantly increased the risk of late iliac complications in FLs. If both characteristics were present, this risk was further elevated.