University of Florida Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery demonstrates improved midterm survival with single-stage repair of aortic arch disease

A study led by cardiothoracic surgeons at the University of Florida College of Medicine has shown that, when compared to two-stage repair of the aortic arch, the frozen elephant trunk procedure, or single-stage hybrid aortic arch replacement, was associated with comparable risks of 30-day mortality and postoperative adverse events, such as stroke or paraplegia. Moreover, at two years, the single-stage procedure was associated with a significantly lower risk of endoleaks and higher survival.

According to Thomas Beaver, M.D., a professor and chief in the Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, these results confirm that “patients with complex thoracic aortic disease of the ascending arch and descending aorta can now be managed with a single operation that is comparable to our historical two-stage approach.”

UF Health physicians provide expertise, which is a product of the elderly demographic of their referral population and therefore a relatively high incidence of aortic pathology. The strong team-based approach to management of cardiovascular disease is characterized in the work at UF Health Shands, and Dr. Beaver’s focus on making treatment safer and easier for patients.

His aim in this patient population is to complete as much of the repair as possible in one surgery. This focus on the single-stage procedure, when anatomically feasible, means that all eligible patients receive a complete repair; use of the two-stage procedure is typically associated with a proportion of patients who do not present for the second surgery and therefore undergo only partial repair.

Dr. Beaver and his team recently published their experience in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery. The UF Health Aortic Disease Center sees patients from throughout Florida and the Southeast.

Reference

Alhussaini M, et al. Neurologic Outcomes in Aortic Arch Repair with Frozen Elephant Trunk versus Two-stage Hybrid Repair. Accepted by Annals of Thoracic Surgery.