Endovascular Repair Compared With Medical Management of Patients With Uncomplicated Type B Acute Aortic Dissection.

BACKGROUND

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has been used in patients with uncomplicated type B acute aortic dissection (B-AAD) to reduce late morbidity and mortality. The outcomes of comparisons between TEVAR and best medical treatment (BMT) on patients with uncomplicated type B-AAD are inconsistent in the published reports.

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to further clarify the early and long-term (11-year) outcomes of TEVAR in patients with uncomplicated type B-AAD compared with those with BMT treatment.

METHODS

Between February 2003 and August 2014, 338 patients with uncomplicated type B-AAD were retrospectively identified in 3 tertiary medical centers. Information about baseline characteristics was collected from medical records. Images were retrieved from the imaging archiving system, and the thrombosis status of the false lumen and extent of the dissection were evaluated via computed tomography angiography. Early and late outcomes were recorded and analyzed.

RESULTS

TEVAR procedures were performed on 184 patients (TEVAR group) and BMT for 154 patients (BMT group). Early events and 30-day mortality were not significantly different between the 2 groups. Patients receiving BMT had significantly higher aortic-related adverse events compared with those in the TEVAR group (p = 0.025). All-cause mortality with TEVAR was significantly lower than that of BMT (p = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirmed the feasibility of TEVAR for uncomplicated type B aortic dissection in the acute setting with fewer aortic-related adverse events and a lower mortality rate compared with BMT.