Surgical treatment of aneurysms of the aortic arch.

A new approach to the challenge of surgical treatment of aneurysms of the aortic arch is described. Former techniques have been dependent on separate cannulation of the cerebral arteries, but induction of deep total body hypothermia to 15 degrees C and circulatory arrest is considered to give sufficient time for resection of the aneurysms and completion of the anastomoses. This is made possible by excising the aneurysms in such a way that the orifices of the three arch vessels are trimmed to leave a small cuff of tissue around the vessels, thereby reducing the number of anastomoses to three. The successful treatment of three patients with this method, is reported.