Complex aneurysmal disease of the thoracic aorta is commonly treated with the elephant trunk technique using two-stage surgery. However, this procedure is associated with high morbidity and mortality. We present the surgical technique used to correct diffuse aneurysmal aortic disease that involves the aortic arch and the descending aorta. The frozen elephant trunk technique using the E-vita Open prosthesis (hybrid procedure), that combines surgical and interventional technologies, was useful to simplify the conventional surgical procedure in a single-stage approach with optimal results.
© 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.