Introduction
Surgical treatment of extensive thoracic aortic disease usually implies either an aggressive one-stage procedure using bilateral anterior thoracotomy and transverse sternotomy1 or a two-step procedure2, both with high morbidity and mortality. The frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique with hybrid prostheses was developed to treat in a one-stage procedure and through median sternotomy the ascending aorta, aortic arch and proximal descending aorta. In addition, it facilitates subsequent procedures on distal aorta by endovascular, open or hybrid techniques3-5 if needed.
This study describes our experience with the E-vita Open hybrid prosthesis and the changes of the technique between 2013 and 2019.