Frequent CT surveillance of endovascular aneurysm repair may be unjustified

April 17, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Frequent CT surveillance of endovascular aneurysm repair may be unjustified By H.A. Abella More than eight years of data from nearly 500 patients suggest that frequent monitoring with CT to look for complications after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms is unnecessary and that it could be done instead with ultrasound. While open surgery remains the standard of care for patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm, studies establishing the comparative value of stent-graft repair keep piling up. Indications for endovascular aneurysm repair continue to be limited mainly to patients who are too frail for surgery, however, mostly due to lack of long-term data on EVAR's durability and complications. Early studies also showed that EVAR had a high rate of secondary interventions compared with surgery. Protocols thus recommended yearly monitoring with CT. New evidence may dispel many myths about EVAR's durability and effectiveness as well as the need for prolonged CT scan surveillance, said senior investigator Dr. Tarun Sabharwal, an interventional radiologist at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital in London.

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