Abstract
BACKGROUND: To report a simple individual tailored aortic arch tangential angle (θ-AATA) measuring method and its clinical application efficacy in the endovascular treatment of type B aortic dissection (AD). METHODS: From January 2013 to December 2014, acute type B AD patients were prospectively enrolled and treated with endovascular therapy in our center. Among these patients, a specific method was applied to measure θ-AATA based on the axial images of the CT scan. The length of proximal landing zone (PLZ) of each patient was measured at the routinely applied left-anterior oblique (LAO) 45-degree and θ-AATA. Respective treatment strategies based on the length of the PLZ were planned accordingly, and the stent-graft was deployed under the fluoroscopy at θ-AATA. The occurrence of immediate type I endoleak was recorded during the completion angiogram, while the alignment of the proximal marks was determined under fluoroscopy at θ-AATA and at LAO-45-degree as well. RESULTS: Totally 76 patients with type B AD were prospectively enrolled. The average value of θ-AATA was 58.3±5.2 degrees, which was significantly larger than the routine 45 degrees (P<0.01). The mean landing zone length measured under θ-AATA (18.4±3.9 mm) was longer than that (15.9±3.1 mm) obtained at the routine LAO-45 degrees (P<0.05). Stent-grafts' deployment strategies were substantially changed accordingly. Alignment of the proximal marks was achieved in 72 patients (93.4%) under θ-AATA and only in two patients (2.7%) at LAO-45 degrees (P<0.01). All stent-grafts' implantation was successfully completed. No major type I endoleak was found in the immediate post-deployment angiography. CONCLUSIONS: It is easy to apply this patient-tailored θ-AATA measuring method in clinical practice. This more precise measurement is benefit for more reasonable treatment strategy planning, more precise deployment, and therefore a better outcome.