In this episode, we discuss the challenges of explanting aortic grafts, the diagnosis and management of infected aortic grafts, as well as tips and tricks for once we're in the operating room.

 

Interviewers/Editors: Mark Basilious, MD Candidate (@markrbasilious)

Eva Urrechaga, MD (@urrechisme) Sharif Ellozy, MD (@SharifEllozy)

 

Guests:

Dr. Francis Caputo (@FrankCaputoMD) is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Vascular Surgery Director of the Aorta Center, and Program Director of the Vascular Surgery Training Programs. His clinical interests include complex open and endovascular repair of thoracic, thoracoabdominal, and abdominal aortic aneurysms, management of thoracic dissection, and endovascular and open repair of failed endograft. Dr. Caputo earned his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey, Newark, NJ, where he also served his surgical residency and two years as a National Institutes of Health research fellow. He completed his fellowship in vascular surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital of Washington University, St. Louis, MO and joined the Cleveland Clinic medical staff in 2018.   

Dr. Peter Rossi (@peterjrossi) is a Professor of Surgery, Radiology, and Orthopedic Surgery, and Chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. His primary research and clinical interests are in complex  “re-do” and revision surgery, including for thoracoabdominal and abdominal aortic aneurysms, carotid artery surgery, and renal and mesenteric arterial disease, as well as vascular reconstruction for complicated soft tissue sarcomas. Dr. Rossi completed medical school at the University of Illinois College of Medicine before completing his general surgery training at the University of Chicago and his vascular surgery training at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2009. 

Dr. Xavier Berard (@XavierBerardMD)  is a French vascular surgeon who has been a Consultant in the Department of Vascular Surgery and Professor of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery in Bordeaux University Hospital in Bordeaux, France since 2010 and a full Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of Bordeaux since 2016. He has also completed a PhD in Vascular Biomaterials and in 2010 worked as a research fellow at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland. He has been board certified by the French College of Vascular and Endovascular Surgeons since 2008 and by the European Society for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery since 2010. He has served as an examiner for the FEBVS exam since 2014 and as a reviewer for the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery since 2016. Additionally, he is a member of the ESVS guidelines writing group for vascular graft infection and AAA.  His personal surgical interests include open surgery of (thoraco)abdominal aneurysms, redo aortic surgery, infections in vascular surgery, EVAR explantation, and biomaterials. He works closely with Institut Bergonié Bordeaux Cancer Center for sarcomas. You can see educational videos and learn more about Dr. Xavier Berard here.

Helpful links and resources:

Video of explantation of infected chimney EVAR with duodenal fistula (courtesy of Dr. Berard)

Video of reimplanting the IMA after explanting an infected graft

Video of explantation of infected graft with suprarenal fixation

Videos of using the syringe technique to remove an aortic stent graft here and here (courtesy of Dr. Berard)

References

1. Kim YW. Aortic Endograft Infection: Diagnosis and Management. Vasc Specialist Int. 2023 Sep 21;39:26. doi: 10.5758/vsi.230071. PMID: 37732343; PMCID: PMC10512004.

2. Papas TT. Patient Selection Is Essential for Explantation of Infected Abdominal Aortic Endografts. Angiology. 2023 Nov 23:33197231218622. doi: 10.1177/00033197231218622. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37995099.

3. Anagnostopoulos A, Mayer F, Ledergerber B, Bergadà-Pijuan J, Husmann L, Mestres CA, Rancic Z, Hasse B; VASGRA Cohort Study. Editor's Choice - Validation of the Management of Aortic Graft Infection Collaboration (MAGIC) Criteria for the Diagnosis of Vascular Graft/Endograft Infection: Results from the Prospective Vascular Graft Cohort Study. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2021 Aug;62(2):251-257. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2021.05.010. Epub 2021 Jun 14. PMID: 34140225.

4. Lumsden AB. Explant of the Aortic Endograft: Today's Solutions, Tomorrow's Problems. Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2023 Mar 7;19(2):38-48. doi: 10.14797/mdcvj.1176. PMID: 36936357; PMCID: PMC10022536.

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