Long-Term Results of Large Stent Grafts to Treat Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

{Background: Open surgery and endovascular treatment are currently the 2 methods of treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Although in open surgery, the proximal diameter of the implanted prostheses seldom exceeds 24 mm, endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) makes it possible to use stent grafts up to 36 mm in diameter. The aim of this study was to compare the long-term results of these large stent grafts compared with the others. Methods: A total of 908 patients operated between 1998 and 2012 for a nonruptured AAA with an infrarenal stent graft were enrolled in this multicentric retrospective study. The patients in whom the proximal diameter of the principal component of the stent graft was above 32 mm belonged to group 1 (n = 170) and the others belonged to group 2 (n = 738). The qualitative and quantitative data were compared with the chi-squared test and the t-test, respectively. The long-term data were analyzed with the log-rank test and Kaplane-Meier curves. Results: Mean age of the patients was 75 +/- 8.3 years, and the average follow-up duration was 38 +/- 28.2 months. There was no difference between the 2 groups regarding demographic data, risk factors except chronic renal insufficiency (30.6% in group 1 vs. 21.2%