Endovascular treatment of the traumatic rupture of the aortic isthmus.

The traumatic rupture of the aortic isthmus is a dehiscence of all or part of the aortic wall, occurring as a result of a closed thoracic trauma. Standard surgical technique requires left thoracotomy, aortic cross-clamping and use of the cardiopulmonary by-pass to prevent ischemic complications, in special the neurologic and visceral ones. The endovascular treatment of these lesions is a more simple solution and there are recent reports on the stent-grafting of the isthmic rupture of the thoracic aorta. We report three cases of successful endovascular repair of the aortic isthmic rupture and we discuss the emergency indications, the advantages and the limits of this technique.