Late thrombosis of a thoracic aorta stent graft: Therapeutic management

The case of a 17-year-old adolescent boy with severe polytrauma is reported. Among other injuries, he presented with aortic rupture distal to the origin of the subclavian artery with no bleeding into the mediastinum. The lesion was repaired by placement of a Cook TX2 endovascular graft (Cook Incorporated, Bloomington, Ind). One year later, he was hospitalized with acute heart failure. Computed tomography angiography showed nearly complete stent graft occlusion and no evidence of altered integrity of the device. A right axillofemoral bypass was performed, allowing conversion to successful definitive repair consisting of an extra-anatomic bypass from the ascending aorta to the supraceliac abdominal aorta. © 2009.