De novo acute type B aortic dissection in two patients with previous infrarenal endovascular aortic aneurysm repair with EndoAnchors

Acute aortic dissection in the immediate postoperative period after endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) has been linked to technical factors such as excessive endograft oversizing or aortic wall injuries during the procedure. In contrast, dissections that occur later are more likely to be de novo. Regardless of their etiology, aortic dissection can extend into the abdominal aorta, causing collapse and occlusion of the endograft with devastating complications. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have reported on aortic dissection in EVAR patients in whom EndoAnchors (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) had been used. We present two cases of de novo type B aortic dissection after EVAR with entry tears in the descending thoracic aorta. In both of our patients, the dissection flap appeared to stop abruptly at the site of endograft fixation with the EndoAnchors, suggesting that EndoAnchors might prevent the propagation of aortic dissection beyond the EndoAnchor fixation level and thus protect the EVAR from collapse.