Aortic arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk technique – a single-center study

Abstract Background The frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique was developed to facilitate the two-stage surgery of extensive pathologies of the thoracic aorta and is now routinely applied in acute and chronic aortic syndromes. Methods From 11/2006 to 07/2017, 68 patients underwent aortic arch repair using the FET technique. Patients received either the Jotec E-vita Open graft (n = 57) or the Vascutek Thoraflex hybrid prosthesis (n = 11). Both, group 1 (acute aortic dissection type A and B; symptomatic penetrating aortic ulcer) and group 2 (aortic aneurysm; chronic aortic dissection) included 34 patients each. Results Early mortality was 13.2% (14.7% in group 1 vs. 11.7% in group 2, p = 0.720). Neurological complications occurred in 12 patients (17.6%) (stroke: 8.8 vs. 11.7%; p = 0.797 and spinal cord injury: 8.8 vs. 5.9%; p = 0.642 in groups 1 vs. 2 respectively). Cardiopulmonary bypass time and cross clamp time were significantly longer in group 1 (252.2 ± 73.5 and 148.3 ± 34 min vs. 189.2 ± 47.8 and 116.3 ± 34.5 min; p