The device could also be used to minimally invasively treat more people whose blood vessel anatomy isn’t conducive to EVAR with an endograft.
The treatment involves advancing two five- to six-inch stents enclosed in the deflated endobags to the site of the aneurysm, one through the right femoral artery, and one through the left. Each stent is inflated with a balloon (which is then deflated) and provides the scaffold defining the channels through which the blood flows. The endobags are filled with polymer and conform to the available space inside the aneurysm. The polymer cures in approximately five minutes to a consistency similar that of a pencil eraser, creating a durable repair designed not to shift or leak. Essentially, the portion of the aorta with the aneurysm is bypassed with two channels that direct blood to the right and left femoral arteries.
To date, 32 people in four countries (Colombia, Venezuela, Latvia and New Zealand) have had the endobag device implanted. Independent audited results are not yet available.
“The endobag seals the aneurysm, and to date, we have not seen any significant movement or shifting of the device,” said Andrew Holden, professor and director of interventional radiology at Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand. “If results are positive, the system has the potential to treat a significantly larger group of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm whose anatomy is not conducive to placement of an endograft.”
