Enhanced elephant trunk technique saved lives of many patients with aortic dissection.

14/03/2023 09:33

 [VOV2] – Aortic dissection is a very dangerous pathology that can cause death. Currently, Viet Duc University Hospital is applying many modern techniques to save lives and reduce complication rates for patients.

More than a dozen days ago, Mrs. Phan Thi Nga, 71 years old from Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province, was brought to the emergency department at Viet Duc University Hospital by her family for severe pain in the chest area, behind the lumbar spine and spreading down the abdomen. After a CT scan, doctor concluded that Ms. Nga had an acute type A aortic dissection.

Assoc. Prof. Phung Huy Hong Son, M.D, Ph.D – Deputy Director of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center of Viet Duc University Hospital said that this is an extremely dangerous surgical disease. Emergency surgery is the only way to save the patient’s life. With common emergency techniques, the patient should be operated to replace the ascending aorta attached to the heart, the remaining parts of the aorta with many dissected foci extending downwards will be continued to be monitored and long-term treatment. Over time, these vessels will be dilated, and the patient could continue to have surgery to place a stent on the descending aorta.

However, with the frozen elephant trunk procedure being implemented at Viet Duc University Hospital, the patient only needs 1 surgery to treat all lesions.

 “Today, there are many modern facilities that can help me treat a patient once but increase radically the results and reduce the difficulty for the patient such as using the frozen elephant trunk technique. Here, I have types of both artificial and stented vessels, called hybrid circuits. This allows me to place a descending aortic stent to block all the tears in the descending aorta, to replace both the aortic arch by the cerebral branch and the ascending aorta in the same surgery, followed by interventional treatment. Intravascular is two without the need for surgery or also simplifies the surgery…” – Assoc. Prof. Phung Huy Hong Son, M.D, Ph.D – Deputy Director of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Center of Viet Duc University Hospital shared.

With the application of the frozen elephant trunk technique, patients with acute type A aortic dissection like Ms. Nga only have to undergo 1 surgery, while avoiding dangerous complications and recovering time after surgery also shortened compared to the previous classic surgical method.

Viet Duc University Hospital has implemented new techniques on aorta since 2012, in which frozen elephant trunk is a new application.

In particular, according to Dr. Nguyen Tung Son, MD – Department of Interventional Cardiology, recently, based on available materials, doctors have improved this technique, at a lower cost and more feasible for patients in Vietnam. “We used artificial grafts with surgery to replace the expensive ones bought abroad. Currently, when using that extra graft and advanced technology of Viet Duc University Hospital, the cost of surgery and intervention costs are reduced, only 1/3 compared to before, while the treatment results are quite good …”.

Up to now, Viet Duc University Hospital has successfully treated about 150 patients with acute type A aortic dissection using frozen elephant trunk technique with low morbidity and mortality rates that less than 10% – this is a result comparable to major Centers around the world.

Aortic dissection is a disease that often occurs in people with underlying medical conditions such as high blood pressure, some congenital diseases of the connective tissue such as Marfan syndrome.

Assoc. Prof. Phung Huy Hong Son, M.D, Ph.D recommends that when a patient feels signs such as sudden pain in the chest or abdomen behind the lumbar spine, sudden severe pain can spread from the abdomen to the chest or from the chest down. Abdominal shock, cold sweats… it is necessary to take the patient immediately to a hospital which is able to provide the treatment, avoiding multiple routes will lose the best treatment opportunity for the patient.