Stenting of the ascending aorta: A stent too far?

Abstract

A 45-year old woman with then unknown Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) presented in 2007 with aneurysms involving the entire thoraco-abdominal aorta, but sparing the aortic root and valve. She underwent debranching of the aortic arch, followed by stenting of entire distal ascending aorta, arch and descending aorta. Two years later, a diagnosis of LDS was established. Five years later, she re-presented with severe aortic regurgitation in a dilated aortic root, requiring aortic root replacement. We present the challenges involved in performing aortic root replacement in the presence of stents within the ascending aorta. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.