Affiliations: [a]
Institute for Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital, Munich, Germany
| [b]
Department of Vascular Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital, Munich, Germany
| [c]
Institute for Medical Information Sciences, Biometry and Epidemiology, Munich, Germany
| [d]
Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| [e]
Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Munich Municipal Hospital Group, Klinikum Neuperlach, Munich, Germany
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Felix G. Meinel, Institute for Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University
Hospital,Marchioninistr 15, 81377 Munich, Germany. Tel.: +49 89 4400 7 3620; Fax: +49 89 4400 78832;
E-mail: fmeinel@med.lmu.de..
Abstract: PURPOSE: To evaluate changes in aortoiliac volume after endovascular repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in patients with and without endoleaks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 137 patients who underwent EVAR for AAA. We manually measured the aortoiliac volume on pre-procedural baseline CT angiograms (CTAs) and post-procedural follow-up CTAs. All post-procedural CTAs were evaluated for the presence of endoleaks. Follow-up examinations were grouped into five time points relative to the date of the EVAR procedure and mean aortoiliac volume changes from the baseline were calculated. RESULTS: In 51 patients (37.2%), endoleaks were detected during follow-up. In patients without any endoleaks, mean aortoiliac volume decreased by 21.1% from the pre-interventional baseline examination to the last follow-up examination. In patients with any endoleak during follow-up aortoiliac volume increased by 12.2% and in patients with only transient, post-procedural endoleaks (n = 18), aortoiliac volume decreased by 13.4% over the same time period. CONCLUSION: After EVAR for AAA, aortoiliac volume on CT angiography decreases by approximately 20% over time in the absence of endoleaks and increases in the presence of endoleaks. Transient post-procedural endoleaks, however, do not influence long-term volume regression.
