Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm

Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAA) are rare events with an incidence of 5.9 cases per 100,000 persons per year. In Germany approximately 940 TAAA procedures are performed annually. The cause of TAAA is mostly degenerative but they can also occur on the basis of an aortic dissection or connective tissue disease (e. g. Marfan's syndrome). Patients often have severe comorbidities and suffer from hypertension, coronary heart disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mostly as a result of smoking. Operative treatment is indicated when the maximum aortic diameter has reached 6 cm (> 5 cm in patients with connective tissue disease) or the aortic diameter rapidly increases (> 5 mm/year). Treatment options are open surgical aortic repair with extracorporeal circulation, endovascular repair with branched/fenestrated endografts and parallel grafts (chimneys) or a combination of open and endovascular procedures (hybrid procedures). Mortality rates after both open and endovascular procedures are approximately 8 % depending on the extent of the repair. Furthermore, there are relevant risks of complications, such as paraplegia (up to 20 %) and the necessity for dialysis. In recent years several approaches to minimize these risks have been proposed. Besides cardiopulmonary risk evaluation, clinical assessment of patients by the physician with respect to the patient-specific anatomy influences the allocation of patients to one treatment option or another. Surgery of TAAA should ideally be performed in high-volume centers in order to achieve better results.