Selection Criteria
Studies providing outcomes of the FET procedure were included in the meta-analysis. The FET procedure used for total arch replacement (TAR) among various aortic pathologies (acute dissection, chronic dissection, and aneurysm) in which the open sternotomy was carried out. Inclusion criteria included studies reporting more than 20 patients undergoing the FET procedure and providing data for postoperative outcomes. Studies were excluded if they included a case report, or small case series, reviews, or editorials. Institutions that published duplicate studies with accumulating numbers of patients or increased lengths of follow-up, only the most complete reports were included for quantitative assessment at each time interval. Publications from overlapped or duplicated populations were also excluded. Studies from the same center were used in the review if the report had the highest sample size with no overlapped participants. IRB approval was not required as our study did not involve human contact or require patient consent, as the data analysed are available online via public repositories.