RETA: update on the short‐term (30 day) and long‐term (1 and 2 years) results of endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms

Background: The updated results from the Registry of Endovascular Treatment of Aneurysms (RETA) for short‐ and long term outcomes from 3 years of data collection are presented. Methods: Some 611 patients were submitted to RETA from January 1996 to December 1999 from 31 centres. In the same period 1‐year follow‐up was received for 299 of the 340 cases requested (88 per cent return rate) and 2‐year follow‐up for 88 of the 155 cases requested (57 per cent return rate). Results: At 30 days 90 per cent of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) were excluded. The rate of conversion to open repair was 5 per cent. Complications occurred in 25 per cent of patients. The overall 30‐day mortality rate was 7 per cent with significantly more deaths in the aortouni‐iliac and crossover groups (12 versus 4 per cent; adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2·6 (95 per cent confidence interval (c.i.) 1·2–5·9); P = 0·018), in unfit patients (18 versus 4 per cent; adjusted OR 4·3 (95 per cent c.i. 2·0–9·5); P < 0·001) and in patients with larger aneurysms (10 versus 2 per cent; adjusted OR 4·4 (95 per cent c.i. 1·4–13); P = 0·009). At 1 year the mortality rate was 11 per cent, with four deaths (1 per cent) due to ruptured AAA. New complications were reported in 53 patients (20 per cent) with 31 (12 per cent) related to the device or AAA. In the second year of follow‐up the mortality rate was 11 per cent with one death (1 per cent) due to ruptured AAA. New complications in the second year after device placement were reported in 24 per cent of patients, with 16 (20 per cent) related to the device or AAA. The cumulative endoleak‐free survival for all patients was 57 per cent at 2 years. Conclusion: The 30‐day mortality rate for endovascular repair was comparable to reported results for conventional surgery, particularly in fit patients. There was a relatively high complication rate at follow‐up, with ruptures reported. Most complications had endovascular treatment. © 2000 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd