Bifurcated Abdominal Aortic Endograft Deployment via the Carotid Artery

Abstract

We report the use of the common carotid artery as an alternate access in endovascular therapy. A 77-year-old man with an enlarging abdominal aortic aneurysm in whom previous attempts at standard endovascular repair had failed because of difficult iliac access underwent endovascular repair via the left common carotid artery. A custom-made Zenith infrarenal bifurcated stent graft was reverse-loaded on a thoracic distal delivery device and deployed in a caudal-to-cranial fashion. The patient made an uneventful recovery without any complications. Computed tomography confirmed exclusion of the aneurysm. This case report highlights the role of the common carotid artery as an access vessel for stent-graft deployment when standard access via the femoral and iliac routes is unachievable.