Hybrid revascularization of the superior mesenteric artery in a patient with acute mesenteric ischemia and an occluded aorta

Abstract

A 60-year-old man with a history of chronic mesenteric ischemia and chronic aortic occlusion presented with diffuse abdominal pain. On admission he was hypotensive and acidotic. A computed tomography angiogram revealed occlusion of his entire infrarenal aorta to the femoral arteries, an occluded celiac trunk and inferior mesenteric artery (previously stented), and severe stenosis of his superior mesenteric artery (SMA; A). He underwent explorative laparotomy, during which three segments of gangrenous small bowel were resected. The rest of the small bowel appeared ischemic but viable. Endovascular attempts to recanalize the SMA were unsuccessful. Owing to his hemodynamic instability and metabolic status, we performed a hybrid procedure. Under fluoroscopy, the thrombosed aorta was punctured. A wire and catheter were introduced into the thoracic aorta. After intraluminal position was confirmed, a 14F peel-away sheath was placed. A 6-mm hybrid vascular graft (W. L. Gore and Associates, Flagstaff, Ariz) was introduced (10-cm nitinol reinforced section and a 50-cm nonringed graft). The sheath was removed and the visible end of the nitinol section, which protruded through the aorta, was secured with stitches to the aortic wall. (model, B) An 8-mm ringed polytetrafluoroethylene graft was placed over the 6-mm graft to prevent kinking and the graft was anastomosed to the SMA. The remaining bowel improved immediately. Postoperative computed tomography angiography showed the hybrid graft was patent, with filling of the SMA (C and D/Cover).