Infection of ascending aortic and aortic arch prostheses

Abstract

Bacterial infection of artificial vascular grafts is generally an uncommon but devastating complication of any type of vascular reconstructive surgery. At the early stage of infection, the clinical symptoms may be vague and non-specific, resulting in a delay of the correct diagnosis, with patients presenting more often at a late stageof the disease process. Conservative measures, by means of non-surgical treatment alone, are usually reported to fail with very high mortality rates. However, medical treatment alone or as an adjunct to lessaggressive surgical treatment stratagems may be still considered for long-term control of the infection, when more definitive forms of surgical treatment are preclusive.