Endovascular repair of intrathoracic left subclavian artery aneurysm with stent grafts: report of a case and review of the literature

Abstract

At present, the standard management of subclavian artery aneurysms is surgical repair. Endovascular treatment of these aneurysms with implantation of a covered stent graft is a relatively new technique that appears to be both feasible and safe. We present the case of a large true aneurysm of the left intrathoracic subclavian artery that was successfully treated with two stent grafts on March 2001. A one-year follow-up CT scan revealed a type 1 secondary endoleak that was successfully treated with a third stent graft. The patient was closely monitored with CT scans that 32 months later confirmed both the patency of the graft and the complete exclusion of the aneurysm, which had decreased in size. At this moment, this is the only case reported in the literature with such a long follow-up but further long-term clinical results will be necessary to fully define the effectiveness of this technique.