Thoracoabdominal retroperitoneal approach for repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with horseshoe kidney.

This article describes a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with horseshoe kidney that was repaired through a thoracoabdominal retroperitoneal approach. In general we believe that the retroperitoneal approach is preferable to the standard transabdominal approach since it avoids the two major difficulties associated with aneurysm repair in a patient with a horseshoe kidney. These are the renal artery anomalies which can be reanastomosed from within the aneurysm sac and the renal isthmus anterior to the aorta which is retracted with the kidney.