Early experience with the intraluminal graft prosthesis

Surgical therapy for dissection of the thoracic aorta has been associated with a high mortality rate due in part to intraoperative bleeding at the suture lines and through the prosthesis. A technique has been devised to obviate some of these problems which utilizes a sutureless prosthesis that can be placed within the aorta. This device is now commercially available. Because of the infrequent use and the need to maintain a wide variety of lengths and diameters of these grafts, several Portland area hospitals jointly purchased grafts to reduce inventory and cost. From November 1981 through September 1982, four patients in two Portland area hospitals were treated with intraluminal grafts for descending thoracic dissections. All patients survived the surgical treatment and were discharged without complications. Based on a review of the literature and our initial experience, the intraluminal prosthesis appears to represent a significant improvement over conventional graft placement for treatment of both acute and chronic aortic dissection.