Late leakage from four-branch prosthetic graft after total aortic arch repair

Abstract

We present two cases with late graft leakage of unknown aetiology after open total aortic arch repair (TAR). Case 1: a 73-year-old woman underwent TAR for arch aneurysm with 24-mm four-branch graft. She had a previous history of pacemaker implantation for sick sinus syndrome and warfarin therapy for atrial fibrillation. Follow-up computed tomography (CT) revealed increased low-density area around the graft 4 years after surgery and blood leakage was shown in delayed-phase CT. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) was performed to cover the haematic leakage, and shrinkage of the lesion was achieved 1 month after TEVAR. Case 2: a 72-year-old man with diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia was admitted to our institute for treatment of aortic arch aneurysm. TAR was successfully performed; however, leakage from the prosthetic graft was noticed by expert radiologists in follow-up delayed-phase CT scan 6 years after surgery. The leakage was resolved 1 month after TEVAR. Although the cause of late leakage was not determined, the slowly expanding haematoma proved to be treatable by additional TEVAR.