Endoluminal Stent–Grafts for Infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

The routine management of aortic aneurysms is surgical, with placement of a graft in the involved segment. 1 , 2 Surgical treatment of nonruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms is associated with an overall mortality rate of 1.4 to 7.6 percent, 3 – 5 and the rate is as high as 10 percent in patients with symptomatic aneurysms. 6 With the percutaneous placement of endoluminal stent–grafts, major abdominal surgery and the related morbidity and mortality can be avoided. This is particularly important because of the high incidence of coexisting morbid conditions 7 , 8 in unselected patients between 65 and 80 years of age, in whom the prevalence of . . .