Simultaneous stent grafting of the descending thoracic aorta and aortofemoral bypass for "shaggy aorta" syndrome

Conventional repair of lesions of the descending thoracic aorta (TA) carries a definite risk of postoperative mortality and serious complications.1 The treatment of a TA aneurysm is more complex when a significant stenosis of the internal carotid artery (ICA) is associated. Endograft repair is a less invasive treatment method for TA lesions, for which encouraging results have been reported.2–3 It may be assumed that adding simultaneous carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to endograft TA repair will be well tolerated and will not increase the overall risk significantly.