Graft-wall endoleak 18 months after successful endoluminal AAA repair

Abstract

Purpose: To describe a case of graft-wall endoleak 18 months after successful endoluminal repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).

Methods and results: A 71-year-old man with infrarenal AAA was successfully treated with an endoluminal aortomonoiliac graft and femorofemoral crossover bypass with surgical ligation of the right external iliac artery. The stent-graft was made from 2 Gianturco Z-stents and a tapered thin-walled (0.1-mm) Dacron graft. Eighteen months after endografting, the patient complained of a pulsatile abdominal mass. Angiography and computed tomography showed graft-wall endoleak. Aneurysmectomy was performed, and the aneurysm was successfully replaced with a Y-shaped knitted Dacron graft. A hole in the graft wall was found 3 cm from the proximal edge of the stent-graft.

Conclusions: This case suggests that the use of thin-walled graft material in endografts may not be sufficiently durable.