[A case of acute A type aortic dissection with lower extremity ischemia--percutaneous fenestration of the aortic septum followed by ascending aortic graft replacement by open distal anastomosis and retrograde cerebral perfusion].

A 56-year-old woman with severe back pain and a cold, pulseless right extremity was admitted to our hospital. Angiogram revealed a type A aortic dissection extending from ascending aorta to the aortic bifurcation with no definite re-entry point. The false lumen gave origin to the right renal artery and the right external iliac artery was occluded. Therefore, a catheter was manipulated into the true lumen through a percutaneous right femoral artery approach, and was advanced into the false lumen through the right posterolateral wall of the dissecting aortic septum. Fenestration was then performed with fully dilated angioplasty balloon across the septum. Immediately after the procedure, the patient's symptoms improved. The day after the fenestration, replacement of the ascending aorta with 24 mm woven Dacron graft was followed under the deep hypothermia and the retrograde cerebral perfusion. The patient followed a satisfactory postoperative course and postoperative angiogram showed a complete closure of the entry at the ascending aorta and adequate revascularization of the right renal and external iliac arteries.