Transapical access for thoracic endovascular aortic repair to elephant trunk completion

Abstract

The 2-stage elephant trunk procedure is widely used to treat extensive disease of the aortic arch and descending thoracic aorta. The 2nd stage of the procedure can be accomplished with both a standard surgical procedure and a retrograde transfemoral endovascular approach using the dangling graft as proximal landing zone. However, in some patients, severe disease of iliofemoral vessels can prevent standard retrograde thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). In such cases, an alternative route to gain endovascular access must be used. Herein, we report a case of anterograde cardiac transapical approach for TEVAR as a 2nd stage of an elephant trunk procedure.