LAUSR

OBJECTIVE Physician-modified endografts (PMEG) and parallel grafting (PG) are important techniques for endovascular repair of complex aortic aneurysms using off-the-shelf devices. However, there is little data regarding the relative efficacy and outcomes of these techniques in thoracoabdominal extent aneurysms. This study sought to compare outcomes of PG and PMEG across different extents of thoracoabdominal aneurysms to which they can be employed. METHODS The SVS VQI TEVAR/Complex EVAR module was queried for all patients undergoing repair of an unruptured, thoracoabdominal aneurysm (TAAA, Extents I-IV) years 2012-2020; aneurysm types were defined by repair extent as determined by proximal and distal seal zones. Patients were differentiated based on whether they received repair with a physician-modified endograft (PMEG) or parallel grafting technique (PG). The primary outcomes for this study were overall survival and freedom from aneurysm/procedure-related mortality at 1-year determined via Kaplan-Meier analysis, with Cox hazard regression analysis conducted to examine the independent association of repair modality with primary outcomes. RESULTS 813 patients met inclusion criteria (TAAA I-III 362, TAAA IV 451; 426 PG, 387 PMEG). PMEG repairs were performed at centers with a nearly 2-3-fold higher annual volume of endovascular TAAA repairs. Type Ia endoleaks were reduced with PMEG repair, most significantly in TAAA IV (TAAA I-III: 2.2% PMEG vs. 10% PG, p = 0.2; TAAA IV: 1.2% PMEG vs. 21.6% PG, p <0.001). Thoracoabdominal repairs demonstrated improved survival at 1-year with PMEG devices, significant for TAAA I-III repairs (TAAA I-III: PMEG 85% vs. PG 74%, p = 0.01; TAAA IV: 84% PMEG vs. PG 78%, p = 0.08). Freedom from aneurysm/procedure-related mortality was also improved with PMEG repairs, remaining significant at 1-year in the case of TAAA IV (TAAA I-III: PMEG 94% vs. PG 86%, p = 0.06; TAAA IV: PMEG 94% vs. PG 88%, p = 0.02). PMEG demonstrated reductions in several measures of post-operative morbidity, including stroke/death, MACE, and post-operative complications. In multivariate analysis, repair modality was not associated with either primary outcome, rather, several perioperative complications conveyed the greatest hazard for both primary outcomes across repair extents. CONCLUSIONS Survival after endovascular TAAA repair is improved with the use of PMEG compared to PG. Several key factors of this study demonstrate the shortcomings of parallel grafting in complex aneurysm repair, namely high rates of critical endoleaks, the need for adjunctive access sites, and an increase in perioperative complications that influence longer-term outcomes.