2.2. Inclusion criteria and data extraction
The present systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines [12]. Results from literature providing complications of hybrid repair of aortic arch only with FET in patients with acute and chronic TAADs and aneurysms were included. Due to the potential doubling of outcomes, review articles were excluded. Also, articles reporting FET outcomes with no clear pathology type or complication, as well as case reports, editorial commentaries and experts’ recommendations were excluded. Among studies reported by the same group of researchers, only the latest publication and/or ones with the largest patient populations were considered. Titles and abstracts of all obtained articles were assessed by 2 reviewers independently, and a third reviewers opinion was obtained in cases of discrepancy/uncertainty. Once the abstract was congruent with our inclusion criteria, the full-text article was retrieved and assessed for suitability according to our inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Extracted data from included articles comprised of the first author’s name and study publication year, study institution/center name, number of enrolled patients, baseline characteristics (i.e., age, sex, prior medical history and cardiovascular risk factors, and aortic pathologies), operative features related to the FET procedure (i.e., concomitant procedures, duration of procedure, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamp time, and stent site and type), follow-up outcomes including FET-related complications (i.e., hospital and intensive care unit length of stay, cerebrovascular events, paraplegia, acute kidney injury, in-hospital and 30-day mortality, dSINE and endoleak), FL thrombosis state, and need for re-intervention following FET (i.e., TEVAR).