FIGURE LEGENDS
Figure 1. Flowchart showing the patient breakdown.
Figure 2. The elephant trunk: (A) Implantation and Suturing; (B) Head vessels and graft to graft anastomosis. (Reprinted with permission from Velasquez CA, Zafar MA, Saeyeldin A, Bin Mahmood SU, Brownstein AJ, Erben Y, et al. Two-Stage Elephant Trunk approach for open management of distal aortic arch and descending aortic pathology in patients with Marfan syndrome. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2017;6(6):712-20.)
Figure 3. Finger-thumb technique for retrieval of the elephant trunk. (Reprinted with permission from Velasquez CA, Zafar MA, Saeyeldin A, Bin Mahmood SU, Brownstein AJ, Erben Y, et al. Two-Stage Elephant Trunk approach for open management of distal aortic arch and descending aortic pathology in patients with Marfan syndrome. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2017;6(6):712-20.)
Figure 4. Completion of the elephant trunk procedure. (A) anastomosis to the descending aorta; (B) Replacement of the thoracoabdominal aorta. (Reprinted with permission from Velasquez CA, Zafar MA, Saeyeldin A, Bin Mahmood SU, Brownstein AJ, Erben Y, et al. Two-Stage Elephant Trunk approach for open management of distal aortic arch and descending aortic pathology in patients with Marfan syndrome. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2017;6(6):712-20.)
Figure 5. Distribution of cases throughout the study period.
Figure 6. Kaplan Meir Curves; A) for the whole cohort, B) for patients who underwent stage I only, C) for patients who underwent both stages I and II.