Commentary: use of chimneys, snorkels, and periscopes to preserve aortic branches during endograft repair.

摘要

This case report from Lachat et al. can be added to the impressive string of technically creative and innovative techniques we have come to expect from the cardiovascular and interventional radiology team at University Hospital in Zurich. The article lends further support to this commentator's impression that the use of "chimneys, snorkels, and periscopes" is clearly on the rise as operators recognize increasingly the versatility of such techniques. They represent readily-available off-the-shelf branch-management solutions to facilitate or enable endo-vascular treatment of complex aortic pathologies in situations where the clinical setting or morphology may preclude use of more traditional surgical debranching options. A ruptured thoracoabdominal aneurysm constitutes a potentially good example of such a scenario.