Surgical intervention for chronic thoracoabdominal aortic dissecting aneurysms (cTAADA) is regarded as one of the most challenging procedures in the field of vascular surgery. For nearly six decades, open repair predominantly utilizing prosthetic grafts has been the treatment of choice for cTAADA. With advances in minimally invasive endovascular technologies, two novel surgical approaches have emerged: total endovascular stent-graft repair and hybrid procedures combining retrograde debranching of visceral arteries with endovascular stent-graft repair (abbreviated as hybrid procedure). Although total endovascular stent-graft repair offers reduced trauma and quicker recovery, limitations persist in clinical application due to hostile anatomical requirements of the aorta, high costs, and the lack of universally available stent-graft products. Hybrid repair, integrating the minimally invasive ethos of endovascular repair with visceral artery debranching techniques, has increasingly become a significant surgical modality for managing thoracoabdominal aneurysms, especially in cases unsuitable for open surgery or total endovascular treatment due to anatomical constraints such as aortic tortuosity or narrow true lumens in dissections. Recent enhancements in hybrid surgical approaches include ongoing optimization of visceral artery reconstruction strategies based on hemodynamic analyses, and exploration of the comparative benefits of staged versus concurrent surgical interventions.
The treatment of aortic dissection has already shifted to endovascular strategies. However, with the evolution of this disease and a deeper understanding of it, experts from various countries have developed a series of innovative endovascular techniques and devices in areas such as lumen reconstruction, false lumen embolization, entry sealing, and branch arteries reconstruction, targeting the long-term complication of chronic post-dissection thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. The past few decades have seen that Chinese vascular surgeons have gradually emerged on the world stage and contributed multiple “Chinese solutions” for post-dissection thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. The author in this review intends to provide an overview of these techniques and devices mentioned above.
Objective To identify the predictors of prolonged stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) in patients undergoing surgery for acute aortic dissection type A. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 80 patients who underwent surgery for acute aortic dissection type A in Qingdao Municipal Hospital from December 2009 through December 2013. The mean age of the patients was 48.9±12.5 years, including 54 males (67.5%) and 26 females (32.5%). The patients were divided into two groups based on their stay time in the ICU. Prolonged length of ICU stay was defined as 5 days or longer time in the ICU postoperatively. There were 67 patients with length of ICU stay shorter than 5 days, 13 patients with length of ICU stay 5 days or longer time. Univariate and multivariate analysis (logistic regression) were used to identify the predictive risk factors. Results The length of ICU stay was 63.2±17.4 hours and 206.9±25.4 hours separately. Overall in-hospital mortality was 3.0% and 15.4% respectively in the two groups. In univariate analyses, there were statistically significant differences with respect to the age, the European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation (EuroSCORE), the preoperative D-dimmer level, total cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time, deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA), inotropes and occurrence of postoperative stroke, acute renal failure and acute respiratory failure, ICU stay duration and hospital stay duration between the patients with length of ICU stay shorter than 5 days and longer than 5 days. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that CPB time, occurrence of postoperative stroke, acute renal failure, or acute respiratory failure were independent predictors for prolonged ICU stay. Conclusion The incidence of prolonged ICU stay is high after surgery for acute aortic dissection type A. It can be predicted by CPB time, occurrence of postoperative stroke, acute renal failure, and acute respiratory failure were independent predictors for prolonged ICU stay. For patients with these risk factors, more perioperative care strategies are needed in order to shorten the ICU stay time.