Challenging endovascular treatment of a thoracic saccular aneurysm in extensive coral reef aorta

Abstract

Coral reef aorta (CRA) is characterized by heavily calcified obstructive lesions in the aorta. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is an established, less invasive procedure for aortic diseases; however, aortic occlusive diseases are commonly treated with conventional open surgery, and there are no reports of TEVAR in patients with a saccular aneurysm in CRA. We present a 72-year-old frail woman with a descending thoracic saccular aneurysm in CRA; therefore, we performed TEVAR. Although we had difficulty in advancing the stent graft system because it was caught in the severely calcified aorta, we finally succeeded in excluding the aneurysm.

Keywords

• Coral reef aorta
• Thoracic aneurysm
• Thoracic endovascular aortic repair
• Saccular aneurysm
• Bypass grafting