aortic replacement in patients with A-AAD.A patent false lumen in the aortic arch is a well-known risk of late enlargement of the aortic arch. 1 We therefore evaluated brachiocephalic branch re-entry associated with type A-AAD and examined the early and long-term effect of brachiocephalic branch re-entry on the aortic arch after ascending aortic replacement.
Methods
Study GroupWe retrospectively studied 85 patients (49 men and 36 women; mean age, 62±12 years) who underwent ascending aortic replacement for A-AAD during the 9-year period from 2006 through to 2014, in whom multiple-detector computed tomography (MDCT) was performed preoperatively and postoperatively during hospitalization. Patients with an intramural hematoma or those 56 patients undergoing total arch replacement due to primary entry in the aortic arch were excluded. We also excluded 3 patients with primary entry at the proximal descending aorta who T ype A acute aortic dissection (A-AAD) remains to be a severe and complex disease because of its complications such as aortic rupture, aortic valve regurgitation, or malperfusion of vital organs. Although aortic dissection sometimes extends to brachiocephalic branches in patients with DeBakey type I aortic dissection, it is unclear how to treat these patients surgically. For instance, ascending aortic replacement, rather than total arch replacement, is performed in many cases with brachiocephalic branch dissection when initial entry is located at the ascending aorta. However, the effect of the presence of brachiocephalic branch dissection on the postoperative prognosis of A-AAD is greatly unknown.The ascending aortic replacement in patients with a dissected branch in the brachiocephalic region often resulted in the remaining patent false lumen in the aortic arch postoperatively, despite the absence of anastomotic leakage. We assumed that the presence of re-entry in the distal portion of the brachiocephalic branches make a false lumen in the brachiocephalic branches patent, which then may cause a false lumen of the aortic arch patent after the ascending Background: Stanford type A acute aortic dissection (A-AAD) extends to the brachiocephalic branches in some patients. After ascending aortic replacement, a remaining re-entry tear in the distal brachiocephalic branches may act as an entry and result in a patent false lumen in the aortic arch. However, the effect of brachiocephalic branch re-entry concomitant with A-AAD remains unknown.