Mapping the aorta: a new look at vascular anatomy in the era of endograft repair.

摘要

Aortic anatomy, as learned in medical school, is the bedrock on which surgery was founded and continues to be performed to this day. That said, let me reassure you that this is not an effort at re-engineering that anatomy the reader knows well, but a "new look" is warranted as the aortic surgery field has been (literally) transformed as a result of developments in stent-graft technologies. A new anatomical dimension to the aorta has evolved as we become deeply immersed in a universe populated with terms and concepts that would not even have made sense only 10 or 15 years ago: landing zones, overstenting, and deb-ranching are just a few examples that help define today's aortic interventional landscape. Through it all, we can be sure of this: aortic surgery will never be the same again, and endograft therapies are here to stay. Unlike conventional operative procedures, endovas-cular repair unfolds within the confines of the aortic inner space. This endoluminal view has led in turn to a new and different perspective on anatomy that is relevant to the endovascu-lar technologies and treatment strategies available to us in the XXI century.