Surgical Repair of an Arch and Descending Aortic Aneurysm in a Child

We describe a case involving 10-year-old girl who had an arch and descending thoracic aortic aneurysm. Preoperative 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography showed an inflammatory lesion corresponding to the aneurysm’s location. The ascending aorta, aortic arch, and descending thoracic aorta were replaced via median sternotomy and left thoracotomy with safe systemic and brain perfusion to avoid placing the anastomoses within the inflammatory lesion. The patient was discharged without complications and a SMAD3 mutation was detected in a postoperative mutational screening.
Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery - Category: Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Source Type: research