From January to December 1998, ten patients with dissecting aneurysms of the Aorta (ADA Ao) were operated on, 4 type A and 6 type B. Males predominated and ages ranged from 34 to 78 years. In all of them aortoscopy was performed with deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest. A gastroscope was used with visualization of the aortic lumen and all patients had less than 15 days of disease. In type A group, there was re-entrance below the left subclavian artery in 2 patients and on the iliac bifurcation in the other 2. In the type B group, there was re-entrance at the renal arteries level in 2 patients and at the aorta bifurcation level of the iliac in 4 patients. The aortoscopy guided us in implanting an elephant trunk supplement in two patients in group type A. In the other 2, it guided us in the inversion of arterial line direction. It directed us in the correct elephant trunk placement in the type B group. In 4 patients we used the aortoscopy as a diagnostic complement. The time spent with the aortoscopy did not alter morbidity concluding that aortoscopy is a rapid diagnostic method with good definition of anatomic changes of the aorta, leading to an efficient treatment. In acute unstable cases we can dispense with some diagnostic scans that could delay surgery, once the re-entrance is on the end of the aortoscopy helps avoid retrograde dissection. We belive that aortoscopy can, in the future, be of great value in the diagnosis and treatment of A D A Ao, as well as in other aortic diseases.
Surgical procedures, endoscopy; Acute aneurysm; Acute aneurysm; Aneurysm; Aneurysm; Aneurysm
