Impact of preoperative identification of the artery of Adamkiewicz on spinal cord injury after descending aortic and thoracoabdominal aortic repair

This study investigates how identifying the Artery of Adamkiewicz (AKA) before surgery impacts the risk of spinal cord injury (SCI) during procedures to repair aneurysms in the descending thoracic aorta (dTA) and thoracoabdominal aorta (TAA). The researchers reviewed data from patients who underwent open repair (OR) or endovascular repair (EVR) to see if locating the AKA beforehand helped reduce SCI. The findings suggest that knowing where the AKA is before surgery can help doctors choose treatment strategies that lower the chances of SCI in both OR and EVR procedures for dTA and TAA issues.

• 1
  Preoperative identification of the AKA was useful enough to determine treatment strategies with less likelihood of SCI in both OR and EVR for dTA and TAA pathologies.
• 2
  The incidence of SCI was significantly higher in patients with the AKA covered than those without it covered [13.8% (9 of 65) vs. 1.1% (1 of 89); P=0.002].
• 3
  In OR, MSA patients had significantly lower incidence of SCI than non-MSA patients [1.7% (1/60) vs. 12.8% (5/39), P=0.037].