Postoperative ascending aortic gigantic pseudoaneurysm: Endovascular treatment with the use of a septal occluder plug

Abstract

A rare postoperative complication of aortic root replacement is pseudoaneurysm formation. Surgical repair may be rather challenging particularly in patients who are elder and with significant comorbidities. Endovascular approach may also be technically demanding, given the high blood velocity and the anatomical challenges of the area of the aortic root and the ascending aorta. We would like to describe a case of an 85-year-old patient with history of prosthetic graft aortic root replacement who had been developed a 7-cm pseudoaneurysm with sternotomy diastasis and extension in the subcutaneous tissue, 7 years after the initial operation. Given the comorbidities, open repair was not considered a valid option and successful endovascular repair with the use of a ventricular septal occluder plug followed. One-year follow-up confirmed satisfactory exclusion of the pseudoaneurysm with no migration of the endovascular device and no other complication. This is one of the rare cases on endovascular repair of an ascending aorta postoperative pseudoaneurysm.