Frozen versus conventional elephant trunk technique: application in clinical practice

• Published in: European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery Vol. 51; no. suppl 1; pp. i20 - i28
• Main Authors: Di Bartolomeo, Roberto, Murana, Giacomo, Di Marco, Luca, Pantaleo, Antonio, Alfonsi, Jacopo, Leone, Alessandro, Pacini, Davide
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Aneurysm, Dissecting - diagnostic imaging; Aneurysm, Dissecting - surgery; Aorta, Thoracic - surgery; Aortic Aneurysm - diagnostic imaging; Aortic Aneurysm - surgery; Aortic Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Aortic Diseases - surgery; Blood Vessel Prosthesis; Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation - methods; Humans; Prosthesis Design; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Elephant trunk; Frozen elephant trunk; Cerebral perfusion; Aortic; Aortic arch
• ISSN: 1873-734X
• DOI: 10.1093/ejcts/ezw335

SummaryTreating complex aortic arch disease with proximal and distal aortic segment involvement is challenging. In recent years, different surgical and endovascular techniques have been applied in a single or multiple-stage approach with the aim to cure and simplify these conditions. The first procedure available for this purpose was the conventional elephant trunk technique. Its recent evolution is the frozen elephant trunk, which treats the descending thoracic aorta using the antegrade release of a self-expandable stent graft. In the following review article, we analyse the advantages and drawbacks of both techniques from clinical and practical perspectives.