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.