PATIENTS AND METHODS
After approval from the Human Investigation Committee of the Yale
University School of Medicine, we searched the database of the Yale
Aortic Institute—containing 3914 patients with thoracic aortic
disease– for patients who underwent the ET procedure. We identified
152 patients between 2003–2018 who underwent a Stage I ET procedure by
the senior author (JAE). Baseline characteristics were reviewed. In some
patients, the elephant trunk of the Stage I procedure was placed for
prompt use as the cornerstone of an upcoming Stage II procedure for
cogent descending aortic disease. In other patients, the elephant trunk
was placed prophylactically for possible late use in case of further
descending disease progression (Figure 1). All patients were followed
for a median of 52 months (quartile 1–3; 22.7 – 96.5). Data on
morbidity and mortality of both Stage I and Stage II procedures were
recorded during the follow up period, and long-term mortality was
ascertained using the Aortic Institute method described previously
[8].