Renal and Visceral Artery Configuration During the First Year of Follow-Up After Fenestrated Aortic Aneurysm Repair Using the Anaconda Stent-graft: A Prospective Longitudinal Multicenter Study With ECG-Gated CTA Scans.

Objective: The performance of fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (FEVAR) may be compromised by complications related to the dynamic vascular environment. The aim of this study was to analyze the behavior of FEVAR bridging stent configurations during the cardiac cycle and during follow-up to improve our understanding on treatment durability.
Design: Twenty-one patients presenting with complex abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs; 9 juxtarenal/6 pararenal/3 paravisceral/1 thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm type IV), treated with a fenestrated Anaconda (Terumo Aortic, Inchinnan, Scotland, UK) with Advanta V12 bridging stents (Getinge, Merrimack, NH, USA), were prospectively enrolled in a multicenter observational cohort study and underwent electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated computed tomographic angiography (CTA) preoperatively, at discharge, 7-week, and 12-month follow-ups.
Methods: Fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair stability was assessed considering the following variables: branch angle as the angle between the aorta and the target artery, end-stent angle as the angle between the end of the bridging stent and the native artery downstream from it, curvature and tortuosity index (TI) to describe the bending of the target artery. Body-bridging stent stability was assessed considering bridging stent flare lengths, the distances between the proximal sealing stent-ring and fenestrations and the distance between the fenestration and first apposition in the target artery.
Results: Renal branch angles significantly increased after FEVAR toward a perpendicular position (right renal artery from median 60.9°, inter quartile range [IQR]=44.2-84.9° preoperatively to 94.4°, IQR=72.6-99.8°, p=0.001 at 12-month follow-up; left renal artery [LRA], from 63.7°, IQR=55.0-73.0° to 94.3°, IQR=68.2-105.6°, p<0.001), while visceral branch angles did not. The mean dynamic curvature only decreased for the LRA from preoperative (3.0, IQR=2.2-3.8 m ^-1 ) to 12-month follow-up (1.9, IQR=1.4-2.6 m ^-1 , p=0.027). The remaining investigated variables did not seem to show any changes over time in this cohort.
Conclusions: Fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair for complex AAAs using the Anaconda fenestrated stent-graft and balloon-expandable Advanta V12 bridging stents demonstrated stable configurations up to 12-month follow-up, except for increasing renal branch angles toward perpendicular orientation to the aorta, yet without apparent clinical consequences in this cohort.
Clinical Impact: This study provides detailed information on the cardiac-pulsatility-induced (dynamic) and longitudinal geometry deformations of the target arteries and bridging stents after fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (FEVAR) up to 12-month follow-up. The configuration demonstrated limited dynamic and longitudinal deformations in terms of branch angle, end-stent angle, curvature, and tortuosity index (TI), except for the increasing renal branch angles that go toward a perpendicular orientation to the aorta. Overall, the results suggest that the investigated FEVAR configurations are stable and durable, though careful consideration of increasing renal branch angles and significant geometry alterations is advised.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was funded by unrestricted grants from Terumo Aortic and by the PPP Allowance made available by Health~Holland, Top Sector Life Sciences & Health. Permission to publish the results was not needed. Prof. Dr R.H. Geelkerken, Prof. Dr M.M.P.J. Reijnen and Prof. Dr C.J.A.M. Zeebregts are consultants for Terumo Aortic.